The Ravens swim team had a largely successful year this season, with multiple program records broken and their biggest roster since 2007.
Their success comes after facing difficulties in previous years, with support and numbers in the program dwindling. However, team manager Lynn Marshall said the swim team has since improved with the help of fundraising.
“We had a successful “Giving Tuesday” campaign and raised about $4000 last December,” Marshall said. “That money was used to subsidize our small travel budget, and to buy swim caps, T-shirts, and jackets for the team, as well as for partial refunds on swim fees for those swimmers that excelled.”
Marshall added the swim team is hopeful they will receive more funding from Athletics in the coming year.
At the 2016 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championships, many members of team recorded their best times, the biggest of which was Thomas Leung, breaking Carleton’s 50-metre freestyle record with a time of 23.11.
Leung’s time qualified him for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Championships, where he finished with three personal best times. The highlight, however, was Leung’s qualifying for the olympic trials, which Marshall said is “quite the feat on just a few months training after several years off,” Marshall said.
Marshall said the goal for next year is to build on the momentum from this season’s success.
“Last year’s team was the largest in many years and I hope to see that trend continue,” Marshall said. “I’m looking forward to seeing all the new and returning swimmers in September.”
Second-year English major Erin McRae, who is returning to the team next year, said that while the team has worked on raising money, there is still a lot to do.
“I think the team needs to keep rebuilding and getting more members, as well as working with the university to try and make the team more financially accessible.” McRae said. “I’m hoping the support continues . . . we now have a coach who is really willing to go the extra mile to see this team succeed as well as swimmers who are extremely dedicated to the program.”
As for personal goals, McRae said she is focused on improving for the upcoming season.
“I’m hoping and expecting to drop a lot of time off my 50, 100, 200 metre freestyle events” McRae said. “I’m just really excited to up my training”
