Taylor Jones | Staff writer
Whitworth swimming competed on Saturday, October 30th, winning eight of the 13 events in the Northwest Conference Relay Invitational at George Fox University.
“We set out to win the meets by racing and keeping good technique while we did that,” Finn McClone said. “Steve Schadt, our head coach, wanted us to focus on the small details such as starts, underwaters, breakouts, turns and finishes.”
The Pirates finished the weekend winning three men’s relays, three women’s relays and a couple of mixed relays.
Zachary Bevans, Isaiah Ross and Conor Florey won the 300-yard butterfly relay in 2:39.12. Ryan Burch, Finn McClone, Ross and Ryan Grady won the 500-freestyle relay in 4:11.14. Ty Patterson, Florey and Ross won the 300 I.M. relay at 2:47.30.
Emma Thompson, Sarah Doncevic and Taylor Thorne won the women’s 300-yard backstroke relay in 3:01.07. Jillian Larrabee, Ryan Reid, Carly Hoff and Thompson won the 500-yard freestyle relay in 4:48.74. Redi, Doncevic and Isabella Hackney won the 300-yard I.M. relay in 3:11.77.
Zachary Washburn, Grady, Larrabee and Hackey won the mixed 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:35.30. Washburn, McClone, Thompson and Hodd won the 400-yard freestyle relay at 3:25.78.
“One obstacle we had to overcome was the 8-hour bus ride down to Oregon.” McClone said. “We had both freshman and sophomores who had never traveled that far and then swam five races…I think that one of the reasons we can perform at such a high level even while tired is because of team spirit.”
Thompson also commented on the importance of the team aspect, saying, “The NWC relay meet was a great meet, it was fun to see everyone come together to win as a team.”
The swim team takes to the pool again on Nov. 20 against Willamette at home in the Megan Thompson Aquatic Center at 11am.
