WashU swimmers practice before a meet in 2024. (Bri Nitsberg | Student Life)

The No. 10 men’s and No. 14 women’s WashU swimming and diving teams fell to Division II No. 6 men’s and No. 17 women’s McKendree University, 105 points to 187 points and 120 points to 167 points, respectively, on Jan. 11.

Despite McKendree’s high D-II ranking and the Bears coming off of an intense Florida training trip, WashU combined for 31 top-three finishes, with junior Rin Iimi and sophomore Marco Minai placing first in the women’s and men’s 400-yard individual medleys. WashU also finished first in the last two events of the meet — the men’s and women’s 400-yard freestyle relays.

“Competing against really strong teams in any division helps to prepare swimmers and divers for competitions like the UAA [University Athletic Association] and NCAA Championships,” head coach Brad Shively wrote in a statement to Student Life“This pushes you to improve your own skills and performance by challenging you to work harder, adapt new strategies, and to strengthen your own weaknesses … We’ll always choose to compete against the best teams we can.”

The meet came at the heels of WashU’s annual training trip where, according to Shively, the team worked on building team bonds while completing a demanding training schedule with multiple practices each day. The meet right after the training trip also allowed the team to practice racing while their bodies are fatigued, which, according to Minai, is crucial for preparing for championship season.

“We kind of had to come into this meet knowing that our bodies are a little more worn-down than usual,” Minai said. “But then, despite that, we try to get up and go and just practice the art of racing because if we can practice how we execute on races … and do [that] while you’re tired and while your body isn’t in an optimal state, then later on in the season when we’re more rested and have nicer suits on, then it’ll come a lot easier.”

No. 10 WashU men’s team v. No. 6 (D-II) McKendree men’s team

Minai led the men’s team with their highest finish of the afternoon, placing first in the 400-yard Individual Medley (IM), beating McKendree’s Caden Brooks by just 0.21 seconds. He also placed second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:54.06.

“As a team, we were definitely tired from the train trip, so it’s nice getting at least one event on them, and that was the fastest I’ve been in a dual meet for a [400 IM] so I was definitely happy with that,” Minai said about the win.

IM events were a strength for the Bears, as first-year Ben Scott, senior Ryan Hillery, and first-year Allan Chu swept the top four spots in the 400 IM behind Minai.

Fifth year Kyle Wolford was the Bears’ fastest finisher in backstroke events, placing third for 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:57.10 and fourth in the 100-yard backstroke event with a time of 0:51.14. 

In the distance events, senior Jeffrey Forbes led WashU, where he placed third in both the 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle. In the latter, Forbes beat McKendree’s Mason Enthoven by two seconds. 

Similarly, Scott placed third in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events, narrowly beating senior Justin Rockaway in the 100-yard event by 0.76 seconds.

Relays also proved to be a strength for the men’s team with the 200-yard medley relay, consisting of Wolford, Rockay, junior Ethan Feng, and fifth-year Austin Bick, placing fourth just over one second behind the third place McKendree team, with a time of 1:33.63.

Relays have been one of WashU’s biggest focuses this season as they are not guaranteed relay spots at the NCAA Championships in March and must qualify relays in each event.

Shively also credited the teams willingness to work hard and push each other for their success this season.

“I believe we have a prideful group who want to compete well for WashU,” Shively wrote. “It starts with doing the work in practice and challenging your teammates to be their best as well. We have a solid team atmosphere but you have to constantly challenge it to strengthen it and to make us more competitive.”

No. 14 WashU women’s team v. No. 17 (D-II) McKendree women’s team

On the women’s team, Iimi, along with sophomore Peyton Watson, first-year Iris Qi, and sophomore Rachel Bello finished first in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:41.32. 

In her individual events, Iimi continued to perform well, recording a time of 2:11.24 in the 200-yard butterfly, good for second place. 

About her IM time and the day’s performance, Iimi stressed the importance of finishing strong, no matter the opponent.

“Like our coach says often, in a sport like swimming, even though [there are] individual races, it’s about scoring as a team,” Iimi said. “I feel like the 400 IM, even though it’s at the end of the meet and everyone’s tired, [is] still important to have that competitive mindset even though it’s a little painful to race through the pain.”

In the 200-yard freestyle, Qi narrowly missed out on a second-place finish, falling just short to McKendree’s Tumi Macdonell by five hundredths of a second. She also secured third place for WashU in the 100-yard freestyle. 

For the final two 100-yard sprint events, sophomore Hannah Lee secured fourth with a time of 1:08.94 in the breaststroke, and Watson finished in second with a time of 59.26 seconds in the butterfly.

In the distance events, junior Nicole Caruso notched the Bears’ best finish of the meet in the 1,000-yard freestyle, placing third, while junior Anna Fonda earned second in the 500-yard freestyle. 

Discussing the team’s strong distance results, Shively praised his athletes’ collective endurance despite the strenuous aerobic and physical demands of the events.

“They support each other really well during challenging sets, and I believe it helps them to have confidence in their abilities.”

With only three meets left before the start of the UAA Championships in February, the men’s and women’s teams will look to finish the season strong across the next couple of weeks, chasing a strong conference performance as well as securing as many qualifiers as possible for the national championships in March. To qualify for the national championship each relay has to hit a qualifying time set by the NCAA.

As for the next challenge, both teams will continue to face quality opposition, facing the D-II University of Missouri-St. Louis Tritons on Friday January 17, and the D-I Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Jaguars on Saturday January 18. Both meets will be at WashU’s Millstone Pool.

For Iimi, next weekend’s meets are significant for reasons both in and out of the pool.

“I think overall we want to focus on being a little bit more competitive getting our hand to the wall first,” she said. “I think that weekend will be a more sentimental moment for us because we have Senior Meet and our banquet that weekend. So it’ll be a good opportunity for us to get together as a team and really show our excitement and our support for each other.”