by Eli Best
Grinnell’s swim teams each finished seventh in the Mutual of Omaha Invite last weekend out of nine men’s teams and 10 women’s teams. Those results may seem surprising coming from teams that are accustomed to holding up MWC championship trophies, but the swimmers felt good about their weekend performances because of the high level of competition they faced.
The Pioneers were up against a field of mostly Division II schools. Also, Grinnell did not bring divers and was not eligible to score points in some events. Considering they competed against DII schools, and could not score points in the diving events, the Pioneers were proud to not finish last.
Julia McHugh ‘07 highlighted yet another challenge of the meet: competing against academic pressures as well as good swim teams.
“It’s always tough … right before hell week,” she said. “We all have a lot on our minds on top of swimming.”
The Pioneer women received a strong performance from first-year Meghan McDoniel. She took seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:11.99, and she was also part of a relay team that finished 5th in the 200-yard medley.
A first-year on the men’s team also had a strong showing. Paul Gagne ’10 followed up his Midwest Conference Performer of the Week award with a third-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle (18:01.59) and was part of the 800-yard freestyle relay team that finished 5th.
The Pioneers will spend the next couple of weeks preparing for their winter break trip to Florida, where they will both train and compete.
“Florida is where we are really challenged with our training,” McHugh said. She pointed out that the workouts in the pool and on dry land will both intensify.
The Pioneer swimmers compete next against Connecticut College.
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