Last Saturday, Jan. 25, Trinity University swimming and diving made the journey across Hildebrand to compete at the University of the Incarnate Word. The men’s and women’s teams both fell short to the UIW Cardinals, by scores of 183-99 and 175-120, respectively.
In the humid natatorium, the schools were on either side of the pool. The Trinity swimmers could be found listening to music before a race, warming up in a designated lane and receiving feedback from Coach Pruden and Coach Fowler after a race. Although Trinity lost, their athletes seemed to remain positive.
The women’s team, ranked No. 18 in the nation among Division III schools, had some standout performances. Sophomore Amy Benson finished second with a time of 1:56.83 in the 200 yard freestyle. Close behind in third place was junior Audrey Jacobson, swimming 1:57.15. Benson commented on her best event of the meet.
“It was a fun race, and I’ve been working hard on it in practice which definitely paid off,” Benson said. “This meet was good as many of us swam our conference events and allowed us to get a feel for them as we start preparing more for SCAC.”
The 1000 yard freestyle featured three Tigers placing in the top five. Junior Erin Morie came in second (11:06.76), first-year Diane Park placed third (11:10.82) and junior Erica Peterson finished fifth (11:52.00). Benson had particular praise for Park’s performance during the meet.
“Diane Park swam a bunch of tough events and handled them like a champ,” Benson said.
The men’s team struggled against UIW despite notable efforts. Sophomore Nate Perez came in second in the men’s 500 yard freestyle (4:53.51). Nate commented on the team’s preparation for this meet, as well as his performance.
“My breakouts and underwaters were executed ideally, making the swim feel both smooth and fast,” Perez said. “The team has been preparing through rigorous training, focusing daily on the events we’ll be competing in. This approach naturally creates groups based on the specific events each swimmer is training for, helping us tailor our preparation for meet day,” Perez said.
Senior Will Kitto swam the 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle. Kitto spoke about the team’s place in the season but said he felt encouraged by his times.
“We’re in a pretty low place in the season, so any good times that we do swim are really encouraging,” Kitto said. “It definitely wasn’t a personal best, but there’s a big difference in swimming, especially between in-season and end-of-season, meets like conference taper is a really big factor for us, and without it, we definitely have a difference in between the two times. This was definitely an in-season best time for me, though.”
The men’s 200 free relay placed fourth. Perez shared the process in which the relays are made and polished.
“With the loss of last year’s seniors, we’ve been adjusting the lineups to find the best combinations. This process is helping us adapt to each swimmer’s style, ensuring smoother and faster transitions,” Perez said.
An unusual problem emerged half way through the meet, as the scoreboard went completely black, and the times and event names were no longer displayed. The board was back and running for the end of the meet for the longer races and relays. Chatter could be heard in the stands from families wishing the times and results had been available to them.
“That was very frustrating, as we were unable to get the meet going and had to take pauses often. It was also difficult to see times and splits, which made it hard to know exactly what was going on,” Benson said.
The women’s diving team featured performances earning them second and third place scores. First-year Charlotte Brod placed second and senior Kara Moss finished in third. From the men’s diving team, junior Max Rolla-Mullis took first place and first year Andrew Ngo finished second.
“I love my front twister on the three meter. I think [the meet] went well for us. There was only one other UIW diver, so we won,” Rolla-Mullis said.
After four hours in a humid natatorium, the swimmers still lined up and high fived. Instead of “good game,” it was “good meet.”
