As many Oberlin students packed up for volunteer trips to South America and dream internships in Washington D.C. or New York City, the Oberlin College men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads geared up for an intense Winter Term on campus.

In between their two meets, the teams practiced, practiced and practiced, leaving them exhausted yet proud of their Winter Term efforts. Although Kenyon College beat both the Yeomen and the Yeowomen at the meet on Jan. 13, both teams swam very well. It is important to note that Kenyon is a consistently good swimming school, and not just during this season. The Lords defeated the Yeomen 136-85, while the Yeowomen fell to the Ladies 120-96.

First-year Bryne Ulmschneider was the star of the Yeowomen’s squad, placing first in the 200-breastroke with a time of 2:36.34. On the Yeomen’s side, senior Craig Betchart led the team with a first place finish in the 200-yard individual medley with a final time of 2:03.53. Betchart also shined in the 100-yard freestyle where he took honors with a final time of 48.98. Other notables on the men’s side were senior Thomas Limouze and first-year Scott McInerney. Limouze completed the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:06.35, which placed him in first. McInerney also finished in first place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.43.

On Jan. 21 both teams traveled to John Carroll University where they improved tremendously upon their performance at Kenyon. The Yeowomen finished with a 123-113 decision and the Yeomen came in second at 122-116. The Yeomen won eight of the 13 events that took place at the meet. Again, Limouze shined with three first-place finishes. He won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:05.15, the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:29.82 and the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:02.89.

These impressive performances were mirrored by Betchart, who took top honors in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles with finishing times of 49.13 and 1:49.46, respectively. The Yeomen had two more first-place finishes in the John Carroll meet. Sophomore John Hugens won the 200-yard backstroke in 2:11.89 and McInerney placed first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.19.

On the women’s end, sophomore Kiri Ulmschneider paced the team with three first-place finishes. She won the 200-yard butterfly in 2:21.71, the 200-yard individual medley in 2:20.64 and the 1000-yard freestyle in 11:20.09. Bryne Ulmschneider helped to set the pace with two first place finishes. She completed the 200-yard freestyle in 2:02.81 and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:31.83. First-year Marsha Guy posted a first-place victory for the Yeowomen, winning the 200-yard backstroke in 2:18.31. The 400-yard medley relay team, composed of Guy, junior Emily Spence, first-year Kir Selert and second-year Maura Selenak finished with a time of 4:18.24, which was good enoughfor a first-place finish.

In the end, the Yeowomen took top honors in nine of 13 events. Reflecting on the experience during Winter Term and the team’s improvement, Kira Ulmschneider said, “I think the team did a good job over Winter Term. I was proud of some of the freshmen who really stepped up, especially since some of them had never trained twice a day before. I think so far the team has had a wonderful season, not only because of the freshmen, but also because some people have really excelled this season.”

Both squads traveled to Canton, Ohio for the NCAC Championships this weekend. The preliminaries begin on Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. As Kira Ulmschneider concluded, “Conference is where big things will really happen.”