by Sena Hughes
The Whitworth swim team members found themselves on the starting block again on Oct. 29 and 30 as they competed in two meets. Whitworth secured first place finishes at both the Northwest Conference Sprint Pentathlon Meet and the NWC Relay Invitational Meet.
On Oct. 28 Whitworth dominated in the individual sprints with a Pirate touching the wall first in the majority of the events. Whitworth’s relay teams controlled the pool Oct. 29 as well. Sophomore Aaron Vaccaro and senior Rory Buck swam well for the men; freshmen Samantha Smith and Nicole Lecoq were strong on the women’s side.
“It was a good start,” head coach Steve Schadt said. “It was the first time in season that we’ve had a chance to see the whole conference. Up until then you don’t really know what to expect and it was nice to come out on top in both meets.”
Though it’s always good to get conference competition, the other NWC teams had notably improved from past years. The Whitworth men, a seven-time NWC championship team, noticed the improvement.
“We can no longer be ‘good’ during duel meets, we have to be ‘great’ every weekend,” Buck said. “I feel like we should be able to grasp the conference title at the end of the year but we’re going to have to be great. This was a big reminder [and] eye-opener to that.”
Schadt and the team said they have high hopes and expectations for what the rest of the season will bring for this promising squad.
“They’ve come a long way in the five or six weeks we’ve been in the water,” Schadt said. “It seems like people have a good base under them. We’re definitely making some big strides and improving pretty quickly.”
Whitworth hosts Pacific University Fri. Nov. 11 at 6:00 p.m. in the Whitworth Aquatics Center and Lewis & Clark College on Sat. Nov. 12 at 1 p.m.