Author: Emily Phillips
After three full days of stress and exhaustion, Occidental brought home a number of new school records, two NCAA cuts and one SCIAC Champion from the 2009 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in Long Beach, CA.
During the tournament, Feb. 12-14, the Tigers spent between ten and 13 hours at the pool deck each day. The men’s team finished in fifth, while the women’s team finished in fourth place in SCIAC.
The morning preliminary races determined who would get a chance to race again that night for a spot on the podium. When they were not in the pool, the swimmers sat in the bleachers sleeping, massaging, eating and conserving energy for their next race. With so much down time, iPods appeared to be a necessity.
Kelsey Fuller (junior) even said she lost track of real time as a result of spending so much time in the gym. Despite this, the team showed their “Oxy Love” for one another with a lot of chatter and joking around.
With a new coach and a large group of rookies, the Tigers knew that it would be a trying year at the SCIAC Championships.”It’s been a really hard transition year, so in spite of that everyone’s been doing really well at the meet,” Chloe Thulstrup (junior) said after the second day of competition. And she could not have been more correct.
During the first day of competition Celeste Faber (senior) took first place in the Women’s 3 Meter Diving, with a score of 395.7. She took first again the next day in the Women’s 1 Meter Diving, earning a score of 386.8 and becoming Oxy’s only SCIAC Champion for the weekend. Tiger Marisa Pulcrano (sophomore) was right on her teammates heels, taking second and third place, respectively, in the same events.
As a part of the water Tigers’ tradition at SCIACs, the whole team stood on the bleachers next to the podium as Faber received her first-place award and sang the Occidental Io Triumphe at the top of their lungs.
Relay team Zachary Condon (first-year), Jeven Dovey (junior), Matt Harter (junior), and Adam Kantor (junior) also made the podium, taking third in the Men’s 400 yard Medley Relay on Thursday night.
Making their marks in Tiger swimming history over the weekend were Eliza Callwood (junior) and Mallory Ryan (first-year). Callwood broke the Occidental record for the 50 yard freestyle established in 1985 with a 24.67. Ryan set a new school record for the 100 yard butterfly at 58.65, which also earned her an NCAA cut. Dovey also received an NCAA cut for his third place win in the 200 yard breaststroke at 2:07.76.
“There’s really nothing like going through five months of hell with this team by your side and then seeing all of that hard work pay off at championships,” Sarah Hunt (senior) said of their successes.
The SCIAC Championships was a bittersweet experience for the Tigers because it was a satisfying end to an exhausting season, but it is also goodbye to 15 seniors.
“I will miss all the silly practices and team memories the most. And of course Taylor Pool. Although it may not be the best facility in the world, it does have character and will always hold a special place in my Oxy career,” Co-captain Nancy Moore (senior) said.
“The hardest things to leave will be the stylish warm ups, fun early morning practices, the comfort of knowing Taylor Pool will break at least three times a year, and the people,” Eileen McMillan (senior) said.
With another successful SCIAC Championship under their belt, the Swimming and Diving teams now look forward to gaining their social lives back and having a full seven months without practice.
In the back of their minds however, these swimmers know that their next season will be upon them quickly. Offseason training will begin in earnest in a short time. But for now, these Tigers are back on dry land.
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