By Joann Groff
Assistant Sports Editor
The Lady Waves know what they want, and nothing is going to get in their way. After a preseason meeting to establish their goals, every swimmer and every diver sees the same vision.
“We sat down together and talked about it,” freshman Nicole Okuna said. “We decided what we wanted out of this season, and that is clearly to win conference.”
They started down their path toward success by opening their season at home at the Malibu Wave Invitational, inviting Biola, California Baptist and Loyola Marymount universities to compete at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool last Saturday.
No overall team winner is named in this meet, but the high-point sprint winner was Pepperdine freshman Ketrina Lemmen and the high-point distance winner was senior Lindsey Krusen.
“I was really happy to get times so close to my best,” Lemmen said. “It shows this program is working well, and by the end of the season I will be able to (reach my personal record).”
Lemmen also snagged spots on the top five all-time best times list for Pepperdine women in the 50, 100 and 200 yard backstroke events.
Okuna was also key in the sprint competition. She set a new school record of 57.99 seconds in the 100 yard butterfly, winning that event and the 50 yard butterfly. She and Lemmen make up a large pool of freshman on this year’s team.
“Our big freshmen base is really going to help us,” sophomore Lauren Krueger said. “We have someone very talented in every event.”
Most members of the team say they agree the diversity in age and skill will help their strategy.
“We have a really fast freshman team,” junior Stephanie Hammond said. “They make up almost half the team, so that really changes our dynamics. We’ve come together very well.”
Hammond won the 100 and 200 yard breaststroke events as well as capturing the No. 4 and No. 3 spots respectively on the all-time best times list.
“Everyone sprinted really well,” freshman Marian Roan said. “We won pretty much every heat, and in general we just looked faster than the other teams.”
The Wave Invitational was considered a success at the end of the night.
“We couldn’t have asked to do better at this point in the season,” Krusen said.
The diving portion of the competition was also a reflection of what the rest of the season should look like. The top four consisted of all Pepperdine divers, with senior and co-captain Michelle Barker coming in first in the one and two-meter events.
“I dove well,” Barker said. “After this first meet, I know what I have to improve on for the season.”
Barker’s success as a Pepperdine diver looks to rub off on many of her teammates, who exemplify the potential Barker possesses and has shown throughout her career.
“Last year we dominated conference (in diving),” Head Coach Nick Rodionoff said. “Michelle Barker won, and all of our other divers finished in the top eight. We are hoping to repeat that, and with our new freshmen, get all of our divers into the finals.”
His eye is especially focused on freshman Gina Warren, a newcomer from Sacramento, Calif.
“She looks good,” Rodionoff said. “She has a couple of dives to work on, but she has talent and a great attitude.”
Barker qualified for the NCAA tournament in this first meet. She attributes the team’s superb performance to the positive nature of the team. After the meet coincided with Family Weekend, many of the athletes say their team has become more of a family.
“Overall, as a team, we’re far more ready than ever,” Barker said. “The positive outlook we had going into the meet helped the dive and swim teams to do so well.”
Strong-skilled athletes with diverse talents means endless possibilities for the Waves’ swim team. And the coaching staff seems to stay humble about the early dominance of their team.
“I have a fairly simple philosophy,” Rodionoff said. “If the swimmers are happy and improve a little bit every week, we’ll be good. We take it one day at a time. They are setting pretty high goals for themselves though.”
The women say these goals may be high, but they are definitely not unattainable.
“Our team looks outstanding,” Krusen said. “We haven’t shown any holes or weaknesses as of yet. I felt like this meet was a definitely a good starting point for us — we are only going to get better.”
October 31, 2002