By Chris Ferrick-Manley
McDaniel swimming coach Kim Easterday believes that her team is having a successful season even if their dual meet record does not reflect it.
In Easterday’s eyes, the team is showing a lot of improvement on an individual level. She sees many of the people on the team swimming faster than they were last year. However, she concedes that it will be tough to make these improvements show up in the standings. One of the problems is a lack of depth among the men. There are only seven male swimmers and only one senior on the whole team, Chris Reed.
“You can have some good individuals who can win, but the team score doesn’t always reflect that,” said Easterday.
The team has three captains: Reed as well as juniors Katie Dorian and Kacy Cribbs. Like Easterday, they believe that the team has been successful even if the won/loss record does not show it.
“I would define success as team support,” said Reed.
All three captains agreed that team camaraderie and giving each other support was crucially important to them. They did however have some goals they wished to see accomplished by the end of the season. The men’s team was going after the 400 medley relay record, which Reed described as “within reach.”
Last season the women’s team lost a very close meet to Bryn Mawr, a team that they had not lost to in a long while, according to Dorian. Beating Bryn Mawr on February 2 this season has since become one of the goals of the women’s team, explained Dorian.
Another significant accomplishment for the women’s swim team is their academic accomplishments. They have made Academic All-American so many years in a row that Easterday claims she has lost count.
The swim team’s final two home meets of the season are on February 1 and February 9 versus Franklin and Marshall and Washington respectively. The time for both is 1 p.m.