In swim meets, because times are recorded for each swimmer, individual athletes can have unprecedented success without the team itself having much of it. This season, Georgetown’s men’s and women’s swim teams have fallen into a rut, but head coach Steven Cartwright was confident and proud when given the opportunity to defend his swimmers.
“Right now, we are swimming faster than we have in previous seasons, we have new times in the all-time top ten, and we have more swimmers qualified for the postseason,” he said.
Just this past weekend at a dual meet against American the Hoyas got their first victory of the season.
“The win against American was definitely a morale-booster,” junior David Ballinger said. “It was a few weeks after our Puerto Rico training trip, and it showed that the training we did really paid off.”
In addition to the win, the Hoyas brought in some outstanding individual performances. Sophomore Lindsay Vickroy and junior Daniel Robinson posted Big East qualifying times. Vickroy qualified in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.09 seconds and Robinson in the 400 yard individual medley, swimming it in 4:13.87.
The Big East Conference Championship starts February 20, and in preparation the team will stop hitting the weights and cut down on time spent in the water. Coach Cartwright called this the team’s taper period.
“We are definitely looking strong, maybe the strongest we ever have, so going into the Championship that’s a good sign,” senior Kelcy Poulson said.
While the upperclassmen have been doing their part, the freshmen on the team have definitely stepped up and contributed to the team’s success this season.
“They’ve filled a lot of holes from last season in the breaststroke and the distance freestyle,” Ballinger said.
“The whole group of them is versatile,” Poulson added. “You can put any of them in any event.”
The swim teams have only one more meet remaining before the conference championships. The women head to Central Connecticut State University for a Friday meet and the men travel to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday.
