The Fighting Scot men’s and women’s swim teams capped their seasons off with impressive finishes at the annual Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving Championships hosted by Grinnell College. The men’s team finished in sixth place with 246 points, while the women’s team placed fifth with 348 points, just eight points shy of fourth place. Grinnell claimed both the men and women’s titles: the women winning their fifth in a row, while the men won their tenth straight.
“What I always tell them is that it’s not about them [Grinnell]. We’re going to go in and execute our races,” said head swimming coach Jake Dacus. “All we can do is what we can do; we have no control over them. They’re swimming in the same water as us. If we can just focus on our lane, and focus on our race, that’s what we can do, and that’s what we can control.”
“I view it as a good opportunity,” said sophomore Caitlyn Stewart, who views swimming against Grinnell as a way to help herself improve. “A lot of them are faster than me, so I think of it as if I can keep up with a person next to me, at least, I’m beating myself as well. It’s easier to keep pace with someone you know is going faster than you.”
Stewart earned two major accolades in the meet, posting the #2 time in school history in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 19:01.00, and in the 400 IM with a time of 4:46.23. She also finished in ninth place in the 1650 freestyle and earned 12 points towards Monmouth’s final tally.
Four Scots scored points in the 200 breaststroke, led by Allie Warren placing third, Nora Collins in sixth, Addie Smith in 12th, and Lea Schmitt behind Smith in 13th. The quartet earned Monmouth 46 points in the event.
Cally Tate finished in ninth place in the 200 backstroke 93, and Nicole Fitch placed 11th in the 200 butterfly. Also cashing in points for the Scots was Addie Zamora in the 100 freestyle, and the 400-freestyle relay team of Tate, Collins, Zamora, and Fitch with a seventh-place finish.
On the men’s side, Jordan Bridgford and Luke Foster finished eighth and 11th, respectively, in the 200 freestyle. Tariq McClarty and Bucket Youvan finished 12th and 15th, respectively, in the 100 freestyle.
In the 200 breaststroke, Kody Coyne and Ethan Main placed 12th and 14th. Finishing off the scoring for the Monmouth men was the 200-yard freestyle relay team of McLarty, Foster, Main, and Youvan, which finished in sixth place.
The Fighting Scot swim teams end this season by bidding farewell to their three seniors: Cally Tate, Nicole Fitch, and Ethan Main.