Geneseo’s Blue Wave doesn’t know much else other than success. Despite injuries and health issues plaguing parts of the roster, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are off to impressive starts to the season. The men are sitting at a comfortable 3-1 record and the women remain undefeated as both head into an invitational this weekend at Ithaca.
The men were strong off the blocks in their season opener against Nazareth on Oct. 19, cruising by their opponent with a 195-99 score. Twelve swimmers topped the podium in their races, with senior Kaz Sampson who won both breaststroke events—the 100 and 200-meter races. Three of Geneseo’s first-years, Jack Cimorelli, Sam Matthews and Kaleb Hotaling also finished first in their respective events; solid performances for their college swimming debuts.
The home-opener for the men’s team would be a tough fight as they took on a Division I team, Canisius College, on Oct. 26. Strong finishes from senior Mitchell Phelps, sophomore Sean McClellan and sophomore Cory Wirth prevented the meet from becoming a runaway, but ultimately the Golden Eagles went home with the 161-133 win. Two home meets across back-to-back weekends in mid-November would send the men’s team into the Thanksgiving break with another two wins under their belt.
Senior distance swimmer Matt Mattera is proud of his team’s accomplishments so far this season. “We came close to beating Canisius which is super exciting, because in other years they’ve blown us away,” he said. “In our other meets, we’ve been performing pretty well across the board. We have a really strong freshmen class that’s helped us out.”
The women’s season almost mirrors the men’s, with wins over Nazareth in their opener as well as over Grove City College and SUNY Cortland on Nov. 9 and Nov. 15, respectively. The women, however, were able to pull off a victory against Canisius with a score of 169-131 to ensure an unblemished record heading into the holiday break. A standout performance from junior Lauren Siegel in the 100 and 200-meter backstroke races, and the 400 IM, gave her team some helpful leverage to clutch a second-consecutive win over their Division I opponents.
The Blue Wave return to the pool this weekend to compete in the Bomber Invitational at Ithaca College. Head coach Paul Dotterweich is pleased with his teams’ results so far, but also believes there’s plenty of room for growth.
“We haven’t been quite as healthy as I would’ve liked. That’s been a challenge for us in terms of putting our best lineup together on a weekly basis. While we’ve been successful, there’s a lot more for us to show,” he said.
Dotterweich’s goals for the season are already firmly in place, with just over two months to go until the Blue Wave competes in the SUNYAC Championships. He always sets the teams’ sights on winning the SUNYAC championships as well as sending as many athletes as possible to the NCAA meet and scoring as many points as possible at the national level.
The senior class of swimmers and divers this year, who were honored at the senior meet against Grove City on Nov. 9, have clearly bought into Dotterweich’s plans and practices; the men’s and women’s seniors have a combined 44 dual meet wins and six SUNYAC championships to their names as proof.
“I’m always proud of the seniors, that they made it. It’s a tough sport, it’s a long time, it’s a lot of dedication and commitment,” he said. “I feel they’re 100 percent into what we do in and out of the pool, they set a great example there.”
Even with the long-term goals hanging in front of these teams, the Blue Wave are still focused on one meet at a time. Dotterweich views the upcoming invitational as a kind of practice for the championship meets. He says he’ll be paying attention to how his athletes carry themselves, respond to adversity and act as teammates on the pool deck. “The presence they have is really important as we look at choosing the right people for our conference team,” he said.