While many Biola sports like baseball, volleyball and soccer receive plenty of attention from the university, oftentimes the collegiate sport of competitive swimming is forgotten about.
A new golf team was implemented this year for the first time in Biola history — but what about a team that has been “established” for the past 10 years now, according to the Biola athletic Web page?
The women’s swim team has never been known for drawing in dramatic recruits to compete for the team, but disregarding misconceptions — the breaststroke is back with a whole new look — the swimmers are finally making a name for themselves.
The predominately young women’s squad includes nine freshmen out of 19 female swimmers.
While many Southern California colleges recruit swimmers from neighboring cities, Biola’s talent is widespread. Freshmen swimmers Erika Johnson and Amanda Swanson are natives of Washington, freshman Rachel Pettit is from Tennessee, freshman Hannah Lawman hails from Minnesota, sophomore Megan Deforest is from Arizona, and senior Christina Piakak comes all the way from Alaska. All bring different styles from across the country to unify this team.
“We have all grown and come together as a team, even with our diverse backgrounds,” freshman Erika Johnson said. “Right away in the season we all [became] really close even though we come from such different places.”
The Lady Eagles share the common connection in their interesting backgrounds, and the numbers can prove this diverse squad has evolved.
In their previous season, the Lady Eagles swam to an impressive 7th place at nationals, but this year’s team could easily place in the top 5. Head coach and ex-Biola swimmer Eddie Shepard believes the success of this team will be determined by the athletes’ motivated attitudes.
“Team chemistry and motivation play a huge role in how successful a team is, which is really important,” Shepard said.
Don’t let this young and still maturing team fool you. Last February, Sarah Warkentin and Shannon Lawrence set school records in the 50, 100 and 200 Freestyle. The women also set school records in 200 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay and the 200 Medley Relay.
This year Biola can expect to break records again. The women opened this season strong at the PCSC Relays in Riverside earlier this month, with freshmen Erika Johnson & April Smith and junior Sarah Warkentin already swimming at national-qualifying times.
“We have a strong chance of breaking a lot of school records,” Shepard said. “This could possibly be the best year we’ve had in Biola swimming.”
With this year’s team focused on building a strong foundation for the future, the athletic program can expect to receive a little more light in recruiting excellent swimmers.
The squad is setting a stronger, more competitive standard. Senior Meghan Samsvick explained this was a different team than in the past, with the new swimmers outnumbering the amount of returning swimmers.
“Now kids who are looking to come to Biola will see times that are more competitive with schools that already have well-known swim programs,” she said.
