Last week was tough on the Elizabethtown College swim team. On Tuesday, Jan. 17, the Blue Jays lost against Albright College in a Middle Atlantic Conference meet.
According to first-year Frank Capria, “The team figured the meet would be a loss because Albright has a bigger swim team and they are more competitive.” Capria competes in the distance freestyle, butterfly and individual medley.
Even though the team lost, the participants did have individual achievements. The men’s 200 medley set a new best time of 1:48:22. Junior Ryan Hannon also swam a personal best of 2:10:83 in the 200-yard backstroke. This was nearly three seconds faster than his previous time.
The women’s team did not get the outcome for which it was hoping: they lost 118-84 to the Lions. The women knew that Albright was going to be a tough team to beat, but they were hoping to keep a close meet and try for personal bests. Tara Deisher, a first-year who competes in distance freestyle, breaststroke and the individual medley, said, “A lot of people got best times and did well individually.”
Like the men’s team, there were individual accomplishments. Deisher set her new best time in the 200 freestyle. In the 200 medley senior Autumn Phillips, sophomore Abby Mitchell, sophomore Megan Leary and junior Erika Harold had a time of 2:04:67.
Before going into the next meet, the swim team was 3-3 in the conference. On Saturday, Jan. 21, the Blue Jays hosted Widener University. This was an important match because Etown and Widener are in the same conference. Not only was this an important conference match, but it was also Etown’s senior night; it was the last time competing at home for four seniors.
Overall, Widener came out on top. For the Blue Jays, junior Shaun Martin won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07. Hannon achieved a new best time in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58:05.
Meanwhile, on the women’s side, first-year Hunter Smith swam her best time in the 200 fly with a mark of 2:37.97. Harold captured first place and had her best time this season in the 100 freestyle with a 56.91. Deisher said, “We just wanted to have fun for the seniors since it was their last home meet.”
The Blue Jays are now 3-4 in the conference following the loss versus Widener. Deisher said that the upperclassmen are pleased with how the team is doing this season. “The coaches work the team hard, and the team is doing well and times are improving,” she said.
Capria, when discussing the conference, said, “We’ve had wins against Arcadia, a good team, Lebanon Valley and Farleigh-Dickinson, but have had agonizing losses to Messiah, Lycoming, Albright and Widener.”
The Blue Jays still have more meets ahead of them, including Kings College and McDaniel next week. A win against Kings would help their record in the MAC. According to Capria, “Right now, we are keeping our ground in the MAC conference, and hope to have more success at the championship meet.”
