The Carleton men’s and women’s varsity swimming teams found themselves in the fast lane, racking up a number of personal bests after competing in the Campbell Division championship hosted by the University of Guelph Nov. 14-15.
The two teams finished with a combined score of 183 for an overall seventh-place finish.
The Ravens were represented by 10 swimmers, including Katie McClean who placed fourth in the women’s 200-metre butterfly, and Kaitlin Swales who placed sixth in the women’s 200-metre breaststroke.
Coach Dale Coleman was particularly impressed with the team’s performance.
“A lot of swimmers had the best times of their swimming career, and all of them swam faster than in the past,” said Coleman.
Coleman admitted that the Ravens felt nervous going into the competition as the underdog.
But as the weekend progressed, she said that the team did too.
“It was tough because we raced until late on Saturday night and raced again Sunday morning, but the team did a great job at handling that,” Coleman said.
Swales agreed that although the team is small, they are in competition with some of the best from the University of Toronto and McMaster University.
“When you swim good, you feel good,” said Swales, a second-year environmental studies student.
Coleman said the team has a lot of growth potential in the future, including a number of competitions late in the semester and a 10-day training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. over the holidays.
Swales said she is excited for the opportunities that lay ahead for the swim team, especially training together in Florida and growing together as a team.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll swim faster every year,” said Coleman. “We have a goal of taking them to the CIS championship.”