The men’s and women’s swim team started off their first season in impressive fashion, with each team earning back-to-back wins in back-to-back weekends. All four wins for each team came against Northwest Conference rivals Lewis & Clark, Pacific, Willamette and Linfield.

Starting with a 4-0 record has reinforced much of the optimism garnered from second place finishes at the Northwest Conference Championships last season. At this meet, the men finished with 565 points and trailed only Whitworth’s 700 points, which clearly shows the possibilities for success in the upcoming season.

“I think we’re definitely the underdogs [relative to Whitworth] in the conference this year,” junior Clark Sun said about the men’s team. “From what I’ve seen this year and how much hard work our team is putting in we have a shot.”

With a sport like swimming, having a strong team generates motivation rather than complacency.

“Both the women’s and men’s teams are 4-0 currently and while we are really excited about that, we know that we have to keep working harder to hold onto what we have and go beyond that … This team is really off to a strong start this season. People are stepping up and pushing themselves harder and it’s really starting to pay off,” junior Keith Nussbaum said.

Both teams are very excited by the presence of their first-year class. Three first-year women won their events against Linfield, as Sarah Davidson won the 500 freestyle, Mara Selznick won the 100 backstroke and Becca Hoffman won the 100 breaststroke. The new men have also put up some promising swims, including Evan Marquardt’s second place finish in the 1650 freestyle against Lewis & Clark. Several first years have been putting up lifetime best times, which is impressive considering their mid-season training regimen.

“I love the tenacity of the first-years. I see them putting in the extra effort in practice and I think that will translate to fast times at the end of the season” said Sun.

“The past two weekends have been a great start to our season…It can often be challenging at this point in the season to keep pushing ourselves in the pool and the weight room, as we are nearing the peak of our training and are asking a lot from our bodies,” said senior Zoey Watts.

As the rest of the school prepares for Thanksgiving break, the swim team will be preparing to travel north of the border to Canada, to participate in the Simon Fraser University Clan Cup. Since Canada swims in a longer, 25 meter pool as opposed to a 25 yard pool, the team can focus on the competition itself rather than worrying about their times.

“We are excited to head to Canada this weekend where we can get back to focusing on racing and being competitive,” said Watts.

The Blues will cap their regular season with a dual meet on Jan. 28 against their rival Whitworth, before moving onto the Northwest Conference Championship meet. Additionally, the Division III NCAA championship takes place in March, a meet that Senior Cole Weinstein participated in last season. Although the competitions are many months away, the swimmers will be looking to perform at the conference meet, and hopefully send a few swimmers to compete in the national meet.