After four and a half months of focused training and continual improvement, the Washington University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams had high expectations going into the University Athletic Association Championship in Chicago, Ill., from Wednesday through Saturday. The team finally saw its hard work pay off as the Bears brought home a combined five individual titles and sophomore Zane Turpin was named UAA Men’s Swimmer of the Year, becoming the first men’s swimmer from Wash. U. to receive the award since 2003.

“We walked away from this meet with our heads up, and we certainly didn’t disappoint as far as the UAA goes,” sophomore Luke Dobben said. “We’re also really proud of Zane, and I wasn’t too surprised to hear him be called for the award. He’s a humble, hard-working guy, and he really deserves it.”

The men’s team finished with 1,067 points, placing fifth overall behind first-place Emory University (1,818.5), Carnegie Mellon University (1,300), the University of Chicago (1,230.5) and Case Western Reserve University (1,184.5) while the women’s team placed third with 1,219.5 points, falling short of Emory (1,955) and Chicago (1,435). Although neither side clinched the conference title, sophomore Sara Taege believes that the Red and Green had their best performance of the season.

“Our team really stepped up this season in all areas, from practice to meets, and we saw that translate into this meet,” Taege said. “People were pushing each other, and the atmosphere was really encouraging. People are wanting to swim fast for the team, and everyone has the desire to succeed so that we can make a statement for ourselves as a team.”

Turpin helped his team make a mark, winning the men’s 400-yard individual medley with a career-best and ’B’ cut time of 4:01.19.

“Zane is particularly strong at butterfly and freestyle, and he works hard enough as a strong distant swimmer,” head coach Brad Shively said. “It was a loaded race, and Zane stayed really calm even when he was behind and finished very strong at the end.”

Turpin contributed another individual title, placing first in the men’s 1,650 freestyle for the second year in the row and posting a school-, pool- and UAA-record time of 15:33.93. Dobben was right behind Turpin the entire race, finishing second, and clocking a career-best time of 15:39.31. Both Turpin and Dobben made the NCAA ‘A’ cut with their respective times.

In addition, Dobben clinched a UAA individual title in the men’s 500 freestyle, repeating as the UAA champion and posting a career-best and ‘B’ cut time of 4:30.01. He also teamed up with sophomore Matt Nutter, Turpin and junior Alex Cox in the men’s 800-freestyle relay, placing third with a ‘B’ cut time of 6:51.66.

“I was really proud of that 800-free relay. Friday was such a long day, and being able to pull through to the end was key,” Shively said. “We didn’t win, but we gave ourselves an opportunity to try to win. Our guys went out strong and held on to the lead as long as they could.”

On the women’s side, Taege and freshman Kristalyn McAfee both won their first career UAA title in the 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle, respectively. Taege clocked a career-best and ‘B’ cut time of 4:56.49. Freshman Grace Counts came up behind Taege, placing sixth with a season-best and ‘B’ cut time of 5:00.40. McAfee and Counts swept the top two spots in the women’s 200 freestyle, finishing with season-best and ‘B’ cut times of 1:51.05 and 1:52.39, respectively.

“Finishing strong is definitely key for me. Going into the 500 [free], I wanted to put myself in a good position, so I got into a good rhythm,” Taege said. “At the 250, I started picking up the tempo and made my move. It was really close at the end, and I ended up out-touching them. I had no idea I would win. I honestly just wanted to beat some people and give it my all.”

Taege also swam in the women’s 400 individual medley, placing fourth with a ‘B’ cut time of 4:30.05, and teamed up with Counts, McAfee and freshman Toireasa Rafferty-Millet in the 800 freestyle relay, placing second with a ‘B’ cut time of 7:31.91 and losing to Emory by only 0.62 seconds.

“It was really an incredible relay since Emory is the reigning national champions,” Taege said. “We were really excited, and we ended up being close to Emory. It was a long race, but everyone was so engaged, and it was an awesome thing to be a part of.”

Among other performances was McAfee’s 100 freestyle, clinching All-UAA honors with a third-place finish and ‘B’ cut time of 51.97. Counts, McAfee, Taege and junior Jenn Tartavull teamed up in the women’s 400 freestyle relay, finished as the UAA runner-up and clocked a ‘B’ cut time of 3:29.42. The men’s 400 medley relay also performed well as Nutter, junior Brian Carpenter, freshman Reed Dalton and senior Brendan Morin placed third and earned All-UAA honors with a ‘B’ cut time of 3:23.49.

The Red and Green will return to action next Friday and Saturday as they attend the Midwest Invitational in Chicago, Ill. This will be the last meet of the year before the team attends the NCAA Championships starting on March 20.

“We gained a lot of confidence from the UAA, and we feel like we can compete with anyone in the country,” Shively said. “We just need to tweak a few things, and we’ll race even faster.”