Scott BresslerIt may still be early in the season, but enthusiasm is running high among Bear swimmers.
The swim teams kicked off their long season Saturday with their annual dual meet against Division I Saint Louis University. Despite slightly depleted rosters for both the men and the women, both teams turned in strong performances. The men upset SLU 151-137 and though the women fell 197-101, they had several impressive swims that set a positive tone for the rest of the season.
Coming off a year where the women finished seventh at nationals and the men placed 18th, the Bears are looking at thinner rosters to start off this season. Losing a number of swimmers to graduation, study abroad programs and other commitments has left both teams smaller than in previous years. However, they remain optimistic about their prospects.
“It’s been a little tough, but we’re making do,” said senior co-captain Meredith Nordbrock. “It’s still a strong squad.”
The impact of losing veteran swimmers has been softened somewhat by the addition of eight new freshmen-four men and four women.
Though these incoming numbers are also smaller than normal, their presence was felt immediately at the first meet. Freshman Michael Flanagan led the newcomers, turning in several strong swims including a first place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, which earned him a provisional bid to the NCAA Championship meet in March, with a time of 1:54.80.
Freshman David Chao also gave an impressive initial showing with top-four performances in his three individual events, including a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.44.
“We were a little worried at first because we only had four incoming freshmen,” said senior co-captain Ross Vimr. “But the fact that two of them swam lights out at this meet I think is good.”
Defeating a Division I opponent was also an encouraging start to the season for the men.
“We got beat by a lot last year, so we wanted to win again this year,” said Vimr. “I think that everybody is excited for the rest of the season and excited to see what we can do later on.”
On the women’s side, sparse numbers held the Bears back from competing at full strength. With a smaller team this year, they did not even have a full lineup to set against SLU, which may have been a deciding factor in their loss. Despite this, they still managed to hold their own, highlighted by junior Kelly Kono’s first place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.38, and a 1-2 finish by Nordbrock and freshman Karin Underwood in the 200-yard backstroke, with times of 2:11.46 and 2:12.04 respectively.
“We still had some extremely strong swims and people put up some great times for the first meet of the season,” said Nordbrock. “I think regardless of our loss we set a great tone for the season.”
With the first meet out of the way, both the men and the women’s teams are now looking ahead to what will hopefully be a successful season.
“This is a good starting point for us,” said Nordbrock. “Hopefully after this meet people will have a better idea of what they want to achieve for themselves.”
The Bears are back in action Saturday, Oct. 13 at the Show Me Showdown in Columbia, Mo.