The Geneseo Blue Wave swimming and diving teams are champions – yet again. The men and women added another trophy to their ever-growing mantle on Saturday Feb. 22. Entering the year, head coach Paul Dotterweich had a vision of both of his teams winning the SUNYAC championships. Without waning on his goals, Dotterweich saw his dream, and the dream of the athletes, come to fruition.
“It feels great, particularly when the athletes perform as well as they did,” he said. “We had 100 percent improvement on our in-season swims, and everyone on the team had at least one personal best swim with many having personal bests in all their events. It was awesome.”
Dotterweich was named the SUNYAC Women’s Coach of the Year for the second straight season and the fourth time in the last seven years. He was also named the SUNYAC Men’s Coach of the Year for the eighth time in his 14-year career with Blue Wave.
For the women, junior Abby Max was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer after leading Geneseo to its seventh straight and 22nd overall team title at the SUNYAC championships.
Junior John Nasky led the men’s side and was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer in the conference championship. The victory was the 21st title in program history and the 15th in the last 16 years.
Geneseo didn’t just win – they blew the competition out of the water. The men won with a score of 808 points while second place SUNY Oneonta earned 464. Similarly, the women topped the field with 880 points ahead of runner-up SUNY Cortland with 573.
There are over three weeks to prepare for the NCAA championships, but Dotterweich said they are “tricky” to train his teams for.
So far, six swimmers have been invited to participate in nationals. Nasky and Max will be joined by senior Lauren Boyce, junior Stephanie Wilcoxen and sophomore Kala Wilkins and Julie Holloway. Divers look to qualify for nationals at the NCAA Division III Region Four Diving Championships on Friday Feb. 28.