Pep swimmers kick off their season in a big way by grabbing first place at Wave Malibu Invitational.
By Sarah Irvin
Staff Writer
Backstroke, breaststroke and diving.
These are just a few events that the Pepperdine women’s swimming and diving teams dominated as they kicked off their 2003 season quest for the West Coast Conference championship.
The Waves hosted the first ever Wave Malibu Invitational Saturday at the Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.
Not only did Pepperdine host the tournament — which consisted of Cal Baptist and WCC competitors Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Loyola Marymount — it dominated it as well.
The Pepperdine team also won spots as the overall high point swimmer and diver at the meet.
This past weekend boosted team morale and prepared them mentally for the upcoming season. In her first collegiate swim meet since transferring to Pepperdine from Princeton, law student Maura Bolger was nervous going into the meet.
“You never know going into a race, especially when it’s been so long,” Bolger said. “I think the uncertainty did make me a little nervous, but I gave it my best and things worked out fine.”
And her best she did. Bolger’s performance brought in a total of 33 points including three first place finishes and a third place finish, making her the overall high point swimmer at the invitational. She swam a 2:11:03 in the 200-yard butterfly, 2:12:17 in the 200-yard backstroke and 5:15:79 in the 500-yard freestyle, all times that brought her first place victories. The team’s success was not due to just one swimmer, however. The team as a whole did well in each of the events at the invitational.
“I thought we did really well,” Bolger said. “A lot of people swam in events that they don’t normally swim, and I think that was gutsy, and I think it showed other teams our versatility.”
The invitational also gave Head Coach Nick Rodionoff the opportunity to showcase the new freshmen on the team. With some skepticism going into the meet, the older players soon realized that the freshmen could hold their own weight in the lanes.
“I was nervous about a large team,” senior and captain Lindsey Krusen said. “I thought it would be difficult to synchronize so many girls into one team. But now it is definitely an asset.”
This season the team welcomed 10 new freshmen, including eight swimmers and two divers.
“They did not swim outstanding but they swam well,” Rodionoff said. “It usually takes the freshmen halfway through the season to really get going.”
Although the freshmen were not “outstanding,” they did leave an impression at the invitational. Freshman diver Lindsay Stephens took first in the one-meter diving competition, beating out six other divers including a junior and two sophomores. Freshman Kacey Black also had a good showing at the invitational.
“I swam fairly well,” Black said. “I was right-on with my times, but there’s always room for improvements.”
The outlook for this season is very bright. The swimmers have been working out during the off-season and started new drills such as dry land, which “whipped us into shape,” sophomore Elizabeth Gettings said.
“We have a large team and everyone contributes well,” Krusen said. “Everyone is a strong swimmer and there is no large discrepancy between the first and last place swimmers. We have good depth.”
The meet Saturday confirmed the teams’ predictions and expectations for the upcoming season. The swimmers and divers are all in agreement that the meet was a great starting point for the team.
“The meet was a good starting off point for the season,” senior swimmer Stephanie Hammond said. “I am very excited, because our new girls are going to go far and our older girls are really stepping up.
“The team is really good. The meet Saturday went well and we are excited for our next one. Right now we are better than we were last year at this same time.”
October 30, 2003