The Oberlin women’s swimming and diving team had a score to settle going into its dual meet at Hiram on November 16. Fresh in the minds of returning Oberlin swimmers was last season’s one-point loss to the Hiram women at home. Adding insult to injury, the visiting Terriers threw their coach into the pool to celebrate, the coach landed on one of Oberlin’s lane lines, breaking it.

This year, however, the Oberlin women triumphed with a score of 121-110. The final score of the men’s losing effort was 91-114.

The latest win for the women in a series of good meets was not the evening’s only excitement. Melissa Ising, OC ’07, who is currently enrolled in the Masters of Music Education Program, swam on the Oberlin women’s team the past four years. Although she is still an active contributor to the swimming program here, she had more to look forward to than a rematch with Hiram. Her brother Gary Ising is a member of the Hiram men’s swimming team. When Hiram and Oberlin competed in a dual meet for the first time last year, a friendly rivalry sprang up between the siblings and their friends, a rivalry that continued into the post season last year and the new season this winter.

The excitement of the rivalry was dampened by less-than-perfect pool conditions.

“Going into the meet, the team seemed pretty tired and unenthusiastic, especially about the pool… [it was] 25 meters [instead of the usual 25 yards, had] high walls that made it hard to get out, and cave-like lighting,” said Ising.

Oberlin shook off its lethargy quickly, however. The women’s “A” relay team of sophomores Laura Fries and Shannon Gallagher, junior Bryne Ulmschneider and first-year Sara Kadi finished first in the 200-meter medley relay event by a comfortable margin. But that event’s spark came from the race for fourth place between a Hiram relay team and the Oberlin “B” relay team of senior Lydia Moore and first-years Meghan Norcross, Dana van der Heide and Shira Korn. It came down to the final swimmers, and Korn battled back and forth with her Hiram counterpart, ultimately beating out her opponent by three-tenths of a second.

The excitement continued during the next event as first-years Jenny Meltz and Kelsey Sherman teamed up for a one-two finish in the 800-meter freestyle race, and finished first and third, respectively, in the 400-meter freestyle a few events later. Going into the 200-meter backstroke event, the Yeowomen led by a slim six-point margin. It didn’t take long to secure a more comfortable lead, as Fries, Norcross and junior Erin Straight took first, third and fourth in the backstroke, respectively.

The 200-meter breaststroke was a sisters’ showdown between Oberlin’s Kiri and senior Bryne Ulmschneider. Kiri finished in second place, one second in front of Bryne in third. The combined points from their two-three finish guaranteed the win for the Yeowomen.

Kadi continued to impress with a first-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle, while first-year diver Christine Martin won on the 3-meter board and finished second on the 1-meter dive.

On the men’s side, senior diver Cory Myers had wins on both boards, while junior Scott McInerney took first in the 50-meter freestyle. Sophomore Dan Holm saw the most rivalry-related action, racing Ising’s brother Gary in the 200-meter breaststroke. Holm got the best of the match-up and took first place. The 400-meter freestyle relay team of junior Mark Muthersbaugh and first-years Eric Hardy, John Kamitsuka and Jon Vimr also brought home a win for the Yeomen.

This weekend’s invitational at Wooster should be another good meet if head coach Mark Fino’s comments about the team’s spirit are any indication.

“[W]e are continuing to grow as a team and realize how interconnected we all are—how swimming is very much a team sport—more than just a collection of individual swims, how everyone’s attitude and actions affect each other.”