Swimmers Tap the Wall Behind Williams; Prepare for Final Meets

Author: David Freedman

With the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championships coming in the next few weeks, the Middlebury men's and women's swimming and diving teams took advantage of their last breaths of free time before spring classes begin to relax and take pride in what they have accomplished so far this season.
On Feb. 8, the College hosted the Middlebury Invitational, a meet where no scores are tabulated but times are recorded. The event drew ranging teams from NESCAC rivals to local colleges to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The format of the event allows teams to showcase some swimmers who will not compete in postseason meets to end their season on a high note, while at the same time putting the rest of the teams in off-events to keep them fairly sharp before any championship meets.
Because of the limitations NESCAC puts on the number of swimmers a school can bring to the championship, many members of the women's team competed in their last meet of the season. These swimmers and divers put on their best performances of the year. Trista McGetrick '06 and Kate Veenker '06 swam their best 50 splits of the year in the 200 medley relay, while Erica Norman '06 and Whitney Sones '05 had season-high times in the 50 butterfly, and Elise Beeger '06 swam under a minute in the 100 freestyle for the first time in her career. The Middlebury divers also went out with a bang: Laura Shaw '05, Tessa Truex '05 and Juliana Muir '04 finished with their highest scores yet (235.45, 234.25, 196.30 respectively) as well as Molly Callahan '04 finishing coming in over 200 points.
While the men did compete, they were not shaved and tapered for the event; nevertheless some of the Middlebury swimmers put up impressive times. Austin Krissoff '06 dropped 36 seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle to win the event and put him in seventh place overall in the NESCAC rankings. Co-Captain Ricky Barfus '03 and Matt Clark '04 finished under 1:50 in the 200 freestyle event for the first time on the season, while fellow co-captain Andrew Sterling '03 put out a strong showing in a rare appearance in the 200 butterfly. Adam Rahal '05 won the 200 individual medley in personal best fashion to round out the team's performances in the sprints.
The Middlebury men's and women's swimming and diving teams also took on Williams on Feb. 1 and came away with some good results despite the score. The women were defeated 184-116.
Emily Egan '06 was ecstatic with her sister Kellianne Egan's '04 "outrageously good win in the 1650. Our family and team was so happy for her." Lizzy DeWitt '04 had an outstanding day with wins in the 500, 200 and 100 yard freestyle events, while Alyson Lipsky '03 wrapped up Middlebury's domination in freestyle with her 50-yard victory. The men lost 254-79 though Clark, Jason Korsmeyer '05, and Alex Demas '06 had standout performances.
The women's team will head off to the NESCAC Championships from Feb. 21-23, while the men's event will be held the following week from Feb. 28 toMarch 2. Both teams will look to represent Middlebury well with strong first-year classes and a great core of veterans that have been to big meets in the past.