Over the Block Break, Colorado College swimming and diving teams headed to Texas for back-to-back meets. First, CC took on Southwestern University. The results presented a mixed bag for the teams; the women won every single event, while the men, unfortunately, didn’t fare as well. Freshman Ethan Schick came away with the only victory, the 100-yard butterfly race.
The women set the tone early. During the opening event, the 400-yard medley relay, seniors Olivia Dilorati and Megan Gillespie and sophomores Ellen Silk and Justina Zuckerman defeated Southwestern by over six seconds. Gillespie went on to win three individual events, the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke and the 400-yard individual medley.
“The 400 IM is definitely my favorite,” said Gillespie. “It was really close. The event takes like five minutes, and I only touched the girl out by like half a second. So it was really exciting.”
“We were kind of ahead as I dove in,” said Holmes. “In [a 50-yard race] you don’t really breathe very often, so I couldn’t really see anyone next to me but I took one breath and I saw the girl and I said, ‘It’s time to go Erin,’ and I just put everything I had left in it.”
The next day, CC participated in a double-dual meet, taking on Austin College and St. Gregory’s University. Once again, the women came out on top, defeating St. Gregory’s in every event and giving up only one event to Austin.
“Our women dominated all three teams,” said Head Coach Anne Goodman James. “Justina Zuckerman had some real breakthrough swims on Friday, showing big time drops from the first meet and winning all of her individual events. In addition to taking first in six events over the weekend, after winning the 100 fly Olivia Dilorati thought she could go faster, so she swam the first 100 of her 500 free as butterfly. She posted a time of 58.67, which ranks her first in the SCAC and 16th nationally.”
CC opened the meet strong, claiming the two top spots in the 200-yard medley relay.
Gillespie, Adams, Silk, and freshman Chaney Skilling beat their teammates (Holmes, Zuckerman, sophomore Emily Harrison, and freshman Hannah Varner) by less than a second.
“Our coach wanted both of those relays to be a pretty even speed with each leg so that we could race each other,” said Holmes. “I think it really helps our team bonding even though we’re competing against each other.”
Sophomore Mary Rose Donahue maintained her perfect season by sweeping all the diving events. Donahue has also already secured her spot in the NCAA regionals diving meet.
“I actually ended up having a perfect season last year going into SCACs, so I would love to continue that this year,” said Donahue. “The possibility of that, of course, is always up in the air especially with a sport as volatile as diving can be. Scores can go up, scores can go down. One false step can ruin all of that. But I’m feeling good about the season so far and I’m looking forward to what’s to come.”
Sophomore Trey Watmore also earned a victory for the men’s team, winning the 500-yard freestyle race by nearly five seconds.
“The 500 freestyle is not an event I regularly swim,” said Watmore. “I was not ahead the whole time, but caught up to the Austin College swimmer with about a 150 to 200 to go. I didn’t realize I was gaining on him until I passed him—my goggles had fogged up—which is when I just went all out until the end of the race.”
“Our men stepped up to the challenge of being there without the full team due to injuries and study abroad,” said Goodman James. “We had to be creative in our line-up.”
This weekend, the teams travel to the University of Chicago for the Phoenix Fall Classic, a 10-team invitational.