This post was written by Hatchet reporter Aaron Esparza.
Despite ending 2013 without a win, the men and women’s swimming teams began the New Year Saturday looking like a completely revamped squad.
Facing Georgetown in the final home meet of the season, the women’s team completed a resounding 160.5-94.5 win, while the men’s team came remarkably close to surprising the Hoyas with a final score of 125-136.
The meet itself, with full stands and the coincidental mixture of Senior Day emotions, carried an exciting atmosphere for the crosstown rivalry.
Fueled by the realization that this would be their last time in front of a packed Smith Center crowd, the Colonials effort was filled with several standout senior performances.
In the 200-yard backstroke, senior Jake Mortenson handedly finished in first with a time of 1:55. On the women’s side, the senior duo of Caroline Myers and Lindsay Moore finished first in six events for a combined 56 points.
Those impressive individual efforts were partnered with some strong team performances that showed the rising depth of the team. In the women’s 1000-yard freestyle, GW swept the first four spots setting a tone for the meet. With just one race remaining, the men’s 400-yard freestyle team finishes ahead of the Hoyas by just .39 seconds to pull out the victory and give them a chance heading into the final race.
“We had a couple of injuries and people were out so we literally went after this team with 11 guys. If 11 guys come within 11 points of a team like that, that’s pretty impressive,” head coach Dan Rhinehart said. “I’m proud of them they did a good job.”
The team, recently returned from a weeklong training trip to Puerto Rico, was fresh and prepared for the opening meet of the spring season. Despite the appealing location, it was described by Rhinehart as “a lot of work outs and not a lot of rest.”
The trip was crucial for the teams at this point in the season, Rhinehart said, because it allowed them to reevaluate their slow start and “made them pretty mentally tough.”
Though the teams may still not be at a championship-level, as Rhinehart said of their combined effort, “the way the kids, both men and women, went after their races, we were competitive in every race until the bitter end.”
