The Warren Wilson College swimming team competed in the Appalachian Conference Championships on February 19-20 at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, where the women finished in 11th place (out of 14 teams) with 54 points and the men finished in 8th place (out of 11 teams) with 114 points.

Amelia Hubbard (200-yard Freestyle) and Johnathon Bland (200-yard Breaststroke) each swam qualifying times for the 2010 NAIA National Swimming Championships.  Amelia re-broke two varsity records: 200-yard Freestyle, 2:05.24 for 12th place, and the 500-yard Freestyle, 5:39.65 for 15th place. The men's 400-yard Freestyle Relay was just .70 (seven-tenths) off of the NAIA qualifying time.

This season-ending meet had each student-athlete racing well and performing personal best times.  The dedication and commitment this team has demonstrated since training began in September speaks to their ability to manage their time and strive for something greater then themselves…a true "team" environment, supportive of one another's efforts, upsets and triumphs…

When the weekend started we were already one-strong-woman down when Maddy Dillon suffered a slight concussion and six staples to the scull the morning of our departure!  Ouch.  We truly missed her, but she's recovering just fine.

 So, with a bit of re-shuffling, the remaining eight women rallied to pull together a string of successful relays and individual events that were fantastic.  Our true rookies to the sport, sophomores Heather Pregartner, Alicia Rink and Amelia Wiggins, compiled an impressive 16 lifetime-best performances with all finishing the weekend with blazing 100-yard Freestyle legs on the final 400-yard Freestyle relays.  Wiggins also contributed team points on a couple of 12th place relays (200 and 400-yard Freestyle relays) with her fine racing.  The improvements these women made, having had zero competitive swimming experience prior to this season, is unbelievably huge.

New to the women's team this year, transfer students Hilary Sullivan and Molly Friedland, stepped in and contributed regularly during the season and also swam a total of nine personal best times!  Sullivan dropped big time on her 100-yard Butterfly leg on one of the 400-yard Medley relays and in her 200-yard Individual Medley.  Friedland's 100-yard Backstroke dropped 6-seconds and she had a hand in all four scoring relays, the two mentioned above plus 11th place finishes in both the 200 and 400-yard Medley relays.

Senior Kate Freeman had four personal-best swimming times, scored on two relays (11th and 12th place), and capped her two-year swimming career dropping six-seconds on her scorching 100 freestyle on the final women's relay event of the weekend.  We will very much miss her next season!

Sophomores Amelia Hubbard and Brett Parmenter lead the individual scoring for the Owls and continued their assault on their personal best times sheet.  The tough Parmenter was a bit under the weather the entire weekend, but that did little to slow her en route to three best times, a 16th place finish in the 200-yard IM and swimming on all four scoring relays.

Hubbard swam three personal bests while re-setting two varsity records in the 200-yard Freestyle (2:05.24, 12th place) and the 500-yard Freestyle (5:39.65, 15th place) with the former being the school's first NAIA national qualifying time standard.  Hubbard also picked up points for a 15th place 100-yard Butterfly and was key on all four scoring relays.

On the men's five member squad, we had one true freshman, two rookies to the sport and two seasoned veterans.  Freshman, Tony Scalia swam well with one personal-best time in the 400-yard Freestyle relay, swimming a 53.97 in his 100-yard leg, and three season-best times, earning a 16th place finish in the 500-yard Freestyle and 12th place in the grueling 1650-yard Freestyle (66 lengths of the pool)!

Men's rookies Nick "Sleep" Souther and Tom Shaw combined for 11 personal-best times!  Souther scored individually in the 100 (16th) and  200-yard Backstroke (10th), as well the 200-yard Freestyle relay (9th) and 200-yard Medley Relay (8th).  Each time Shaw dove in, he improved.  His best individual place was in the 200-yard Freestyle for 15th place (1:58.38) while swimming strong legs on all four scoring relays, the two mentioned above plus the 400-yard Medley (9th) and 400-yard Freestyle (8th) relays.
 
Senior Brendan Burns finished his collegiate career with five best-times with a super-sweet 1:02.57 for the 100-yard Butterfly on the 9th place 400-yard Medley Relay, a :26.87 split for a 50-yard Butterfly leg on the 8th place 200-yard Medley Relay, and a :53.22 100-yard Freestyle leg on the 8th place 400-yard Freestyle Relay.  This relay was just .70 (seven-tenths) off of the NAIA qualifying time!  We will dearly miss Mr. Burns!

Johnathon Bland rounded out the men's squad with six personal-best times, one NAIA national qualifying time standard in the 200-yard Breaststroke (2:22.01, 10th place), a 9th place finish in the 100-yard Breaststroke, 15th place in the 50-yard Freestyle and a hand in all four scoring relays. 

What a wonderful season-ending experience for these fine and dedicated student-athletes. Their extraordinary efforts paid off, the bonds they forged during strenuous training strong, and a better understanding of a life skill that is truly priceless.  Excellent job, Warren Wilson College swimmers!


Seniors:  Kate Freeman and Brendan Burns