<< Front page Sports December 12, 2003

Swimmers travel to Wooster
Team racks up strong individual performances

Last Thursday, the swim team took off from Oberlin to spend an extended weekend competing in the Wooster Invitational.

The three-day meet forced competitors to miss class on Thursday and Friday. With the semester winding down and classes growing ever more important, head coach Dick Michaels made it an optional meet for all swimmers.

Both the men and women’s teams put up great individual efforts but were unable to overcome their lack of numbers. The men’s team amassed 498 points, which was enough to finish seventh out of nine teams. The women ended up in last place out of the same nine schools with 261 points.

Individuals from both teams turned in noteworthy performances during the long weekend.

The women’s team had five swimmers compete: first-years Kate Boyd, Shannon Davis and Kimberley Meinert and seniors Nikki Middaugh and Adrienne Zoller. Tapering and shaving before the meet seemed to help them prepare, as the five swimmers combined to record this season’s fastest times in nine different events.

There were a large number of competitors at the nine-school event, making four individual top ten finishes even more impressive for the shorthanded Yeowomen.

Middaugh placed tenth in both the 200- and 400-yard individual medley. Zoller placed eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke, and finished sixth place in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:40.20.

The men’s team had six swimmers attend the meet. Like the women’s team, the men’s squad shared the wealth: each player finished with at least one team best during the nine-event competition.

Four sophomores, Craig Betchart, Zach Kaplan-Moss, Tom Limouze and Yorgos Strangas joined seniors Burt Betchart and Chuck Treatman at the meet.

There were eight individual top- ten finishes for the Yeomen. Out of those eight, four were in the top five.

Burt Betchart was runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley and fourth in the 200-yard backstroke. Limouze placed third in the 500-yard freestyle and fifth in the 1650 freestyle.

The six swimmers, used in different combinations, created four relays the 200- and 400-yard medley and the 200- and 400-yard freestyle that all built upon success earlier in the year. The relays took 10th, 11th, 11th and 8th place, respectively.

Competition will not resume until Friday, Jan. 16 when the team has back-to-back home meets against John Carroll University and versus Kenyon University on Saturday.

Until then, practices will consist of a workload of around 4,000 yards.

From Jan. 3 to 12, the team will train in Clearwater, Florida. The nine-day trip should be a vigorous but enjoyable time.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Boyd said. “We will swim over 10,000 yards a day.”

   

A note to our subscribers: Our subscription list was deleted.
Please help us reconstruct it. (Read on...)