Before even entering the pool, the Carleton Ravens swim team was already at a disadvantage when they traveled to Sudbury, Ont. for the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships Feb. 9-10.
The Ravens lost points in the overall standings when one team member dropped out at the last minute without any prior warning to his coach or teammates, according to head coach Nicolas Belisle
“This was a great surprise and let-down,” Belisle said in an email. He did not disclose the name of the swimmer.
Despite the loss of a team member, the team performed well over the weekend, he said.
“While I would say that our performance as a team was only average on the first day of competition, the team rebounded well and by the third day all swimmers were performing at or above their previous seasonal bests,” Belisle said.
In overall standings, the women finished 11th, beating Trent and York, while the men placed 12th, one spot ahead of Trent. Schools with small swim teams find themselves at a disadvantage against larger teams such as Western University Canada, since points are awarded based on the placing of individual athletes.
Fourth-year swimmer MacKenzie Kimm earned a special mention by the coach for her individual performance in the breaststroke events.
“She was an alternate to the finals in the 100 and 200 metre distances and scored in the points for the second year in a row in the 50 metre breaststroke event,” Belisle said.
“We did alright,” said team member Justin Kernot. “Two of our swimmers are graduating this year and we’re hoping to receive funding for next year.”
The year started off promisingly for the Ravens swimmers in November, when the team competed in the Stratten Divisionals at Brock University.
“There, the women were able to out-score Trent and York, while the men out-scored Trent and Brock,” Belisle said.
They continued to improve in their overall standings, competing in meets in the new year at Queen’s University and a club meet in Montreal at the end of January, according to Belisle.
Belisle said he will be re-assessing the attendance requirements and personal expectations associated with being a member of the team to avoid the repeat of drop-outs experienced this season.
“I would like to make resistance training a bigger focus next year as I think that we have lots of potential for improvement with a more regular strength training plan” he said.
Last year, a winter training camp in Florida was very beneficial to the swimmers’ performance at the championship meet, despite the hefty costs, he added.
“I think that the gains made during such a focused period of training are more than worthwhile.”
