The women’s swim team took one win and a loss at a double-dual meet hosted by Lewis University Nov. 7.

Beating Bethel University 149-102 and losing to Lewis University 162-87, the Chargers placed first in two individual events.

Head coach Kurt Kirner said staying competitive was more difficult this meet, since multiple swimmers were out with or impacted by illness or injury. 

“We did not swim our strongest lineup,” Kirner said. “We were able to beat Lewis last year and I think if we had our strongest lineup we would have matched up better, but we did get some really good times in certain events. Our relays were the fastest we’ve been so far this semester.”

Junior Matilyn Wilhelmsen placed first in the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:46:76 and second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25:28. She was also on the 200-yard freestyle relay team taking second. 

Wilhelmsen said this was her first time swimming the 1,000-yard freestyle since February and she shared how prayer plays a part into how she  mentally prepares for a distance event.

“I always give glory to God. Everything that I am able to do and all the abilities and energy I have are because of the Lord’s goodness,” she said. “Worshipping him is how I approach races. Without the Lord’s strength and provision I wouldn’t be here at Hillsdale or have the team that I have.”

Team enthusiasm stayed high throughout the meet, according to Wilhelmsen, and there were encouraging personal improvements. 

“We all had a great attitude going in,” Wilhelmsen said. “We had some really great relays where we were neck and neck with Lewis the whole time, and cheering each other on. Everybody did really stellar. Alyson [Early] had a great 400 IM with a personal best, so truly, a really good meet.”

Freshman Cali Kissel took first place in the 100-yard backstroke in 58:99 and swam backstroke for the 200-yard medley relay, placing third. 

According to Kissel, she has been recovering from a minor knee injury and so she came into the meet with different expectations of herself. 

“I’ve been fighting a knee injury so I haven’t been going as hard in the past week since it flared up again,” Kissel said. “I was just going into the meet thinking ‘if I can do all my events without hurting, praise God,’ because that will be a win for me. I was definitely not expecting to win the 100 back.”

Other strong swims from the weekend include sophomore Avery May taking second place in both the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:50:72 and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:13:92. Junior Ella Schafer also took runner-up in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54:48. 

According to Kirner, over the next few weeks before Christmas break the team will refine its race-plans and keep figuring out where it can push harder.

“You can go out and swim your guts out, but if you’re not swimming your race plan you’re not pacing well, you’re not getting out on your events, you’re not figuring out where you can pick it up,” Kirner said. “You have an opportunity when you’re tired to really figure these things out because you want to leave the pool with the tank empty.”

Wilhelmsen said the team is proud of their results from dedication at practice and looking forward to carrying their progress into midseason.

“We were seeing the fruits of our progress throughout the week,” Wilhelmsen said. “We felt a lot of ‘wow, the work we’re putting in is paying off.’ Our details were strong. Our focus before races was strong. Bringing each other up when we were tired was strong.”

Kissel agreed the team is feeling powerful in the water and is keeping their attention in practice on the finer details of a race. 

“We’ve been doing good with mind over matter,” Kissel said. “Starts, turns, and underwaters are probably what we’re going to be working on because they are smaller things. We’ve already built the endurance.”

The Chargers will travel to Davenport University in Grand Rapids for their mid-season meet, the Don-Kimble Invitational, Nov. 21.