Champions. Record breakers. Friends. The Pepperdine Women’s Swim and Dive team has many titles, but for them, the most important one is family.
For Swim and Dive, success comes in the form of togetherness — something the team has seen an abundance of in the last four years. In 2022, the team won their first-ever conference title, followed by a second title in 2023, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
“That was never a set goal of mine in my first year, year-and-a-half to win championships,” Head Coach Ellie Monobe said. “My goal was to bring the team together, and then from there, things just fell into place.”
A time of rebuilding
Monobe started coaching at Pepperdine in August of 2020, while the entire Swim and Dive program was undergoing major leadership changes, Monobe said. She noticed a missing link between leadership and the athletes when she first joined the team.
“There was a lot of strained relationships with leadership prior to when I got there, and some trust issues paired with lacking general cohesion with leadership,” Monobe said. “They just were looking for somebody to unify them.”
Jenna Sanchez, freestyler and breaststroker alumna (‘23), said the coaching changes leading up to the hiring of Monobe created growing pains for the team. Sanchez had Coach Joe Spahn for two months before the team transitioned to Interim Coach Jana Vincent for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.
Although she appreciated her time swimming for Spahn and Vincent, she said she is thankful for what Monobe has brought to the team.
“I’ve really appreciated how Coach Ellie has focused on our team dynamic each year and making sure that we’re all on the same page with team values and goals for the year,” Sanchez said.
Not only did Monobe join the team in the midst of coaching changes, she also started her position at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, athletes took time away from their sports to protect their health, Sanchez said.
“As a swimmer, I’ve never taken longer than a three-week break in between seasons,” Sanchez said. “And we took eight months because of COVID.”
The extended time away from the pool meant a decrease in conditioning for the swimmers. Sanchez said returning to the pool post-COVID made Monobe’s workouts feel more challenging than workouts with previous coaches, but she still enjoyed Monobe’s coaching style and workouts.
From rebuilding to breaking records
Not only has Swim and Dive won championship titles, they have also broken multiple school records.
Out of Pepperdine’s top 10 times across all events, 63% have been between the years of 2020 and 2024, according to the 2023-24 record book. The team broke 13 school records since the beginning of the 2020 season. The 13 records are split between 8 athletes — four of the records are relay events that have been broken multiple times.
Senior freestyler and breaststroker Alexandra Browne is one of those record breakers. During her sophomore season, Browne set the school record in the 50 free, 100 IM and was part of the 200 free relay and medley relay that set records, according to Pepperdine Athletics. In her junior season, Browne once again set school records in the 50 free (22.93 seconds), 100 IM (57.32 seconds) and was part of the 200 free relay team that set a school record (1:33.09 minutes).
These records once belonged to Sanchez. She said she does not feel upset when her records are broken, because they are meant to be broken.
“I feel excited every time that they break more records, because I just want that team to continue to succeed and to continue to make a good name for themselves,” Sanchez said.
Leading up to competitions, Browne said she practices mindfulness to avoid becoming too wrapped up in her head.
“My biggest thing is just remembering the passion I have for the sport,” Browne said. “Not everything relies on the time.”
Browne said the day she broke the 50 free record, she was nervous and not in the best headspace. Her warmups were slower than usual and she was becoming worried. She reminded herself why she was competing and broke the record later that day.
Browne has witnessed all of the record breaking — joining the program during her freshman year and serving as a team captain since her junior year, according to the team’s instagram.
“Just seeing someone when they touch the wall and they look up at the time and they’re so excited, it’s the most fun thing to watch because you’ve seen them work hard, you’ve seen their ups and downs, all the work they put in,” Browne said.
Winning is a family matter
Monobe’s mission to unify the team and instill team values has contributed to their success. Browne said she sees her success and efforts as a contribution to the entire team.
“You’re not just doing this for yourself anymore,” Browne said. “You’re doing it for your whole team.”
Browne said the team spends time together outside the pool, many of them living together.
“We still choose to hang out with each other outside of the sport and outside of living together,” Browne said. “ So we all get along really well. I feel like it’s one big family.”
Constantly calling each other family and spending as much time together as possible has allowed the team to create inside jokes and memories, Monobe said. These memories bring the team closer together and allow for more team bonding.
One team bonding activity the team has done in the past is Secret Swive — with Swive being a combination of the words swim and dive, Sanchez said. Secret Swive works similar to Secret Santa, each team member is given the name of one of their teammates and is tasked with supporting them throughout the season. Support can come in the form of words of affirmation, gifts and notes.
When choosing team values for every season, Sanchez said family comes up every year. The family aspect is also important when recruiting new members.
“That’s why recruiting is so important, and recruit trips are so important, and why the current team is always so involved in creating the next team,” Sanchez said. “We want girls that are going to buy into being a part of a family, not just being an athlete for themselves.”
Family goes beyond graduation for Waves Swim and Dive. Sanchez said alumnae of the program remain close to each other and continue to support the team by cheering on current swimmers at their competitions.
Looking forward
Last season, Swim and Dive switched to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) and placed seventh in their new conference, according to Pepperdine Athletics. Monobe said she hopes the team will make more of a name for themselves at this season’s championships.
The team placed seventh overall at the 2024 MPSF championships, according to the Pepperdine Athletics website.
“We’ve had such amazing past few seasons,” Browne said. “I hope we can continue that upward trend, and I know that everyone on the team is capable of doing that. I’m excited to see everyone work hard, and all that hard work to pay off.”
However, beyond titles and trophies, the team is looking forward to bringing back more alumni and remaining grateful for their time on the team, Monobe and Browne said.
“I hope that everyone can remember why we do the sport, because we all have that one shared passion for it, and just that common love for the sport,” Browne said.
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Contact Gabrielle Salgado via email: gabrielle.salgado@pepperdine.edu
