A swimmer competes at an early season meet. (Bri Nitsberg | Student Life)

With 50 yards left in the A-final of the 200 yard freestyle, junior Pace Edwards looked to the lane beside him and saw Emory’s Pire Harrison closing in. Edwards put his head down, kicked harder, and was able to out-touch Harrison, winning the event with a time of 1:38.86, the second fastest time in Division III so far this season.

“It was electric,” Edwards said. “That was the first big win of my career.”

Later that night, the second of the three-day meet, Edwards stood on the blocks as sophomore Ethan Feng came into the wall, finishing the first leg of the 800 yard freestyle relay — an event the Bears placed second in at the 2023 NCAA Championship.

The relay team – made up of Feng, Edwards, junior Danny Sibley, and senior Mark Lipkin – touched the wall first, beating Division II University of Indianapolis by nearly four seconds, clinching the Bears’ other first place finish at the meet.

Coming off of his first individual win earlier in the meet, this relay win was even more meaningful for Edwards. 

“I personally love relays,” Edwards said. “Individual events are fun…but getting to [win] with three other guys with me, and having the whole team watch, and hearing them cheer us on, and hearing in the stands cheer us on, it was so much, getting to celebrate with all the other guys on the relay.”

Washington University No. 8 men’s and No. 17 women’s swim team competed in the Denison Invitational on Nov. 30 to Dec. 2,  placing 4th and 5th respectively. They faced off against competition including Emory University, who is ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III for both men’s and women’s, as well as Denison University, whose men’s team is ranked No. 6 and whose women’s team is ranked No. 4, and Division I Eastern Michigan University.

Throughout the weekend, the Bears acquired 17 NCAA B–cuts, a necessary and important step on the road to the NCAA Championship on Mar. 20-23. An A–standard means that the swimmers are automatically invited to the meet; achieving the B–standard puts swimmers on an invite list to be eligible for a spot at the national championships.  

Alongside Edwards and the men’s 800 freestyle relay, the men’s 400 freestyle relay, 200 freestyle relay, 400 medley and 200 medley relay, seniors Alex McCormick and Austin Bick, junior Ryan Hillery, sophomore Matthew Walker.

McCormick posted one of the most impressive performances of the weekend placing second in the 200IM, 100 yard backstroke, and 200 yard backstroke, securing B–cuts in each event.

On the women’s team, junior Isabella Barrientos, and freshman Lili Sandor both received B–cuts in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. 

Relays were a strength for the Bears in this competitive field with WashU able to nab top five spots in both the men’s and women’s 200 medley relays and 800 freestyle relays, as well as the men’s 400 medley and 200 freestyle relay.

In the final event of the meet, the men’s 400 freestyle relay, of Sibley, Bick, junior Justin Rockaway, and Lipkin, broke the schools record with a time of 2:59.45, finishing second behind Division II Indianapolis.

“Any time you break a school record it’s very exciting,” Head Coach Bradley Shively wrote in a Statement to Student Life. “The race was very competitive and I felt the four of them just went for it. There was a lot of energy as it was the last event of the meet and I’m really proud of them for throwing down a big swim like that!”

The women’s team freshman class continued their dominant performance, making 22 appearances in individual finals throughout the weekend.

Sandor claimed two B–Cuts in the 400 IM and 200 Breastroke, where she placed 10th and 6th respectively.

“The 400 IM is mentally tough, [you have to think about] how are you going to guess how to spread out your energy throughout the race since it’s so long,” Sandor said. “But I felt good to finally be able to execute the race well because I’ve struggled with that race before.”

First-years also played a key role helping the Bears relays reach success, with Elizabeth Chen, Hannah Lee, Peyton Watson, and Izzie Gattone leading the 200 medley relay to a fourth place finish and NCAA B–cut.

“I am so excited to see what everyone does [at] our conference and our other taper meets,” Sandor said. “I think it’s fun for the rest of the team to have a successful freshman class just knowing that the team can continue improving throughout the years.”

Shively echoed this sentiment, adding, “We have some excellent leaders on this team who have encouraged and supported their efforts, and that has made a huge impact on the team.”

Unlike the Bears’ previous meets, including short dual meets against St. Louis University on Oct. 20 and The University of Chicago on Oct. 28, this meet was spread across morning prelims and evening finals sessions over three days, similar to the format of the UAA and NCAA Championships, bringing a new set of tests for the Bears.

“Our UAA and NCAA Championships have similar formats so it’s good to get a feel for the rigors of a big championship meet,” Shively wrote.

The Bears next return to the pool on Jan. 12 against the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Before that, the Bears will travel to Florida for their winter training trip. Edwards and the team will also use the time to build endurance, which is lost during taper, and work on perfecting technique.

The team is looking past the next slate of dual meets and to the UAA Championship from Feb. 14-17.

“The UAA Championships is a major priority for our program and we know we need to be at our best,” Shively wrote.