The Geneseo Blue Wave are SUNYAC Champions once again. This win marks 11 consecutive SUNYAC Championship victories for the women and five for the men, ultimately bringing the total crowns under head coach Paul Dotterweich to 32.
“Winning SUNYACs is always a great feeling,” senior swimmer Jeff Doser said. “We expect it of ourselves every year to win, but actually being able to hold up the trophy after a season of a lot of hard work is an extremely rewarding feeling. It feels just as good to win this time as it did my freshman year.”
Dotterweich echoed Doser’s thoughts about this year’s SUNYACs.
“The challenges we faced make this success a little sweeter,” Dotterweich said. “Both teams performed extremely well. It’s easy as a coach to go back and pick spots that I wish were better, but overall I am very pleased.”
Regarding the winning streak, Dotterweich said it’s definitely enjoyable.
“It’s fun. Winning is always more fun than not,” Dotterweich said. “Personally, I think we would be even better if the teams in our conference pushed us harder. That urgency would push us to the next level.”
Doser swam exceptionally well in this year’s SUNYAC Championship and helped secure the victory, all while breaking multiple SUNYAC records with the help of his teammates.
“My favorite part of swimming is most definitely swimming on relays, so being able to be part of some of the fastest relays in SUNYAC history is a pretty amazing opportunity,” Doser said.
“I’m probably most proud of the 400 [yard] medley relay, because I think some people considered us an underdog in that relay,” Doser said. “We not only won by five seconds, but also broke the SUNYAC record by over a second.”
As was known all year, the women’s freshman class of swimmers was extremely gifted in their skills.
“Our first-year women’s class is remarkable. They are deep and talented and I am really impressed with how they handled themselves at their first championships,” Dotterweich said. “They didn’t miss a beat and came into a high pressure situation and performed very well. It is exciting looking forward at the possibilities for the next few years.”
Not only did strong swimming pull Geneseo to the top, but superb coaching also aided in their road to success. Dotterweich was named Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year and diving coach Shawn Austin was awarded SUNYAC Diving Coach of the Year.
Doser certainly sees Dotterweich’s influence on the team and praises his coaching abilities.
“Coach Dotterweich has been a great role model for me the last four years,” Doser said. “I owe a lot of my success in and out of the pool to the philosophies he teaches us. I have learned so much from him about having a positive mental attitude, budgeting my time properly and most importantly, learning how to just have fun in swimming and in life in general. I have nothing but great words about Coach.”
The next step to close off this season is the NCAA Division III Championship. Dotterweich said he doesn’t know for certain who will be going to NCAAs yet, but 11 swimmers have a good shot at moving on, as well as a couple of divers. The divers will compete at a regional meet on Friday Mar. 2 and Saturday Mar. 3 to determine who goes on to the NCAA National Championship.