Swim teams finish strong

Jimmy McCumber Staff Writer

Vassar’s swim teams enjoyed successful seasons this year, with broken records broken on both teams, and good showings in the Liberty League and New York state meets. While the men struggled with low numbers (there were only nine men on the team), the women swam all the way to a sixth place showing at the state meet.

“Nothing about this season could have been better,” said Head Coach Lisl Prater-Lee. “People across the board stepped up, and the team came together very well. The Seven Sisters meet for the women was a great competition.” The women’s team placed second at the Seven Sisters meet.

The men, led by co-captains Matt Shapiro ’06 and Will Oldehoff ’06, finished with a 2-8 record in dual meets, with wins over Skidmore and Pace. At the Liberty League Championship, Vassar finished in sixth place. The women finished with an even 4-4 record, and placed fourth at the Liberty League meet. At the league championships, Coaches Prater-Lee, Jesup Szatkowki and diving Coach Tom Albright received the “Coaching Staff of the Meet” honor for the first time.

Also at the Liberty League meet, Vassar’s Emily Love ’09 was named Rookie of the Meet. It was a record-breaking year for the freshmen class, as Love finished her season as the Vassar record holder in five individual events (the 50-meter, 100, and 200 Backstroke and the 50 and 200 Freestyle), in addition to two relay records. Her classmate Allison Koenker ’09 broke the school records in both the 200m and 400 Individual Medley [IM].

This season, Vassar hosted the fifth annual men’s “Sprint Invitational,” where Tom Liu ’09 turned in a record-breaking performance in the 50 Breaststroke and the 100 IM, and also won the 100 Breaststroke.

“I was impressed with how much everyone on the team stepped up,” said Liu. “Now we need to build up the team even more. We do need more people.”
In the women’s meet, held at Skidmore College, Vassar was the highest-scoring team, led by a

1-2-3 sweep in the 100 Butterfly by Jess Lentner ’09, Charley Young ’09, and Rachel Herrmann ’07.

The women’s team did not have any seniors this season, and will return their whole team next year. Their captains were two juniors, Blaire Fromm ’07 and Kathryn Swallow ’07.

The women capped off their season with thier sixth place showing at the New York State Championships. Love won the 50m freestyle and the 100m backstroke in the meet. On the men’s side Vassar finished in eleventh place, as Liu, the other record-breaking freshman, set school marks in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke.

Overall, Fromm and Love ranked are ranked first and second, respectively in the state in 50m freestyle. Love also ranked second in the 100m, 200m, and 500m freestyle, while swimming the top time in the 50m, 100m, and 200m backstroke. Koenker ranked third in both the 200m and 400m.

Placing twelfth in the state, Andrew Wood ’08 is also a Vassar record-holder with his one-meter diving performance against Pace.

Both coaches and swimmers were pleased with the results this season and expressed optimism for next year.

“I’m really proud of the this team, they’re incredible,” said Love. “Almost everyone on the team got a best time at states which was phenomenal.”

When asked about the team’s goals for next season, Love had a list of ambitions. “Our goals are to beat Wellesley at the Seven Sisters meet and to beat RPI in a dual meet,” said Love. “We also want to rank higher at states next year, and have people qualify for nationals.”
Szatkowki agreed, saying, “We can use our success this season as a stepping stone for next year.”