On Friday Jan. 24 the women’s and men’s swimming and diving team came in first place in a meet at RIT, overcoming their longtime rivals. While the women’s team is continuing their impressive performance throughout the season, the men’s team rebounded from a loss in their previous competition.
Prior to the meet at RIT, the Geneseo men’s team lost at Case Western Reserve 179.5 to 114.5. Some outstanding performers during that matchup were sophomore diver Ben Wilcox—who came in first place in one-meter event—and first-year Caleb Hotaling—who received the fastest mark in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Despite Geneseo’s efforts, Case Western proved to be resilient as they did well in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard relay race, among others. Although a loss can be extremely discouraging, it happens to the greatest teams and players.
According to junior Harry Harkins, Coach Dotterweich has given the team supreme confidence in their ability to win. “He tells us that he believes in us and that we have done the training to accomplish our goals,” Harkins said. Furthermore, the coach emphasizes that the team must “stay mentally focused,” in order to achieve their ultimate goals.
Dotterweich’s unyielding trust paid dividends when the men’s team rebounded from their loss and overcame RIT 163 to 134. Geneseo had a dominant performance and junior Will Eng was the star of the night. Eng claimed a pair of first-place finishes in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.83 and the 100-yard free with a time of 48 seconds. On the diving side of things, sophomore Corey Wirth put on a similarly great performance. He won both the one-meter dive and the three-meter dive.
Harkins also had a solid night, coming in third in the 50-yard freestyle. Both the team success and individual success are the product of a culture of support amongst the team’s members. “A lot of people think that swimming is more of an individual sport, but that is far from the truth,” Harkins said. Even though many of the competitions themselves are individual, the team “trains several hours a week together” and “supports one another in the pool and in the classroom.”
While the men’s swimming and diving team reclaimed victory after a loss at Case Western, the women’s team had back-to-back wins with their 196-104 triumph over RIT. Many of the Geneseo participants placed first in their respective matchups.
Junior Deidra Osula stole the show, placing first in both the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle. Fellow junior Paige Turcotte also turned in an impressive performance by placing first in the 400-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke. Overall, the women’s team outplayed RIT both in the individual and team matchups, such as placing first in both the 200-yard medley relay team and 200-yard free relay.
The women’s swimming and diving team has been on a roll and are looking to continue that momentum into the SUNYAC Championships. In order to prepare for the upcoming competition, Coach Dotterweich will be gradually decreasing the number of yards that the team swims in practice. Consequently, everyone will be rested and prepared for action when the time comes.
Harkins said, however, that the most important thing to keep in mind is to stay relaxed and have fun. “Having fun while still pushing yourself to the limit. In order to accomplish [our] goals, our team creates a much healthier, happier and more successful team atmosphere,” Harkins said.
So Geneseo fans, make sure to keep an eye on the swimming and diving team as they play with unyielding joy and tenacity. The next time they will be competing is in the Geneseo Invitational on Saturday Feb. 1 at Erie Community College at 12 p.m.