Swimming and Diving began its season on Oct. 7 as both the men and women competed at the All-Florida Invitational. This will be the second year of the Swimming and Diving program, and, though its history may be short, it has already brought success to the university.
In the program’s first year, the men captured a conference championship, and both teams had swimmers qualify for nationals.
Hollie Bonewit-Cron, head coach, said last year was a good “building year” and the teams are ready to do better this year.
“I think our athletes did a phenomenal job of getting in shape over the summer, and it showed coming into this fall, and our performances in practice only helped them in their meet,” she said.
Ash Dougan, senior swimmer, said the team has performed well, and he thinks that with hard work and effort, the team has what it takes to repeat as conference champions.
“With all the new talent pouring in, it’s become much more competitive within the team, which will ultimately raise our level of competition against others, too. With us now being “the team to beat,” as we are conference champions, we are going to have to step up our game in every meet and also every practice,” said Dougan.
Bonewit-Cron said she wants both teams to win conference championships this season, but the main objective is to perform better at the national level.
“I think at the national level, which is our main focus, I would like to see them place a lot higher than what they did. They did a great job in how they placed, but I think they can place a lot better,” she said.
Both teams defeated Saint Leo University in their second competition on Oct. 15. They compete next against Rollins on Nov. 5.
