by Katie Keith
Staff Writer
The Tiger’s swim and dive season came to a close at Birmingham Southern on Feb14-16 with the SAA Conference Championship meet. After three long days competing against 6 teams, the men finished third with a final total score of 688 and the women in fourth with 586. The Tigers have had a very good season with each part of the team bringing in several wins.
Three Sewanee swimmers earned an SAA title this year. Astrid Escobar (C’14) took first in the women’s 100 breaststroke, finishing over two seconds ahead of the pack. Sophomore swimmer, Ed Denis finished the 400 IM with a time of 4:10.64, earning him first place and an SAA title. Denis, a South Carolina native, says throughout “the season we worked very hard as a team in the pool. Coach Max’s mental training was particularly helpful. Couldn’t do it without my teammates, my friends outside of swimming, my coaches and my family.”
Caty Huseke (C’17) won her first SAA title in the 100 m backstroke. Huseke was also awarded the SAA Newcomer of the Year, an award presented to new swimmers (often freshmen) for their remarkable performance throughout the season. Huseke is well aware of the honor of this award and says, “I just worked really hard this season, and am so lucky to have been given this award.”
On the board this meet, Grace Cobbs (C’15) came in second on the women’s 1-meter event. Cobbs came second to the defending titleholder from Rhodes. Cobbs had the following to say about the meet and her teammates: “We had a really great season this year and everyone achieved a lot. We had two women divers who had never competed before this season and they were able to place at conference, which was great. Overall, we had four men and four women place in the 1-meter event, which was a great accomplishment!”
The Sewanee Swim & Dive team has a very strong camaraderie. Meets are long and occupy most weekends from October until February. A swimming tradition kept amongst male team members is to shave their heads for conference, an act done not only for speed but also for solidarity. The team worked very hard this year, as evident by the many season-best times posted by the Tigers at conference. Great Season, Tigers!