Last Saturday, the swim team had its third meet of the season–– the Malibu Invitational at Pepperdine University. The Biola dive team, along with several other teams in the dive conference, also attended an invitational at California Baptist University.

Nine swimmers made national cuts. Those who made national-qualifying times at the meet include junior Amber Kiel in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:16.46, and senior April Smith in the 200 breaststroke 2:28.19 and 200 freestyle in 2:00.37.

Junior Brittney Rosania qualified in the 200 butterfly with 2:18.01 and 100-yard butterfly, 1:02.60. Sophomore Chris Stutzman made the cut in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:50.24 and 100 -yard freestyle in 00:49.11, with junior Nathan Roe in the 200 -yard freestyle with the time 1:50.86, along with junior Rachael Sirjord in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:03.63.

Both Smith and Stutzman were in the top 10 for two of their races. Smith won sixth place in the 200-yard breaststroke and eight place for the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:10.61. She accumulated the most individual points of the Biola women’s team.

On the men’s side, Stutzman swam particularly well. He won sixth place for the 100-yard freestyle, ninth in the 50-yard freestyle in 22.54, and 10th in the 100-yard backstroke with 57:80. He gained the most individual points among the Biola men.

Achievements did not come without cost

Practices for the team have become more challenging over the past two weeks. Not only did the swimmers spend approximately fifteen hours in the pool the week of the meet, but they also ran a total of nine miles during dry land practices. In addition to more difficult practices, coach Brittany Sharpe and her assistants Nate Cook and Zach Perkins held a team meeting. They told the swimmers that they as coaches are doing their part to get the team in shape and improve times, but the swimmers have to do their part as well. Swimmers may complete all the swim sets, but doing well in their races involves pushing themselves during practice.

Sophomore backstroker Katelyn McNeely agreed with Sharpe saying, “So many times athletes depend on their coaches for everything they need, and just do whatever they’re told. But only we know our bodies, so we know if we can push ourselves harder.” For swim, improvements require a lot of good coaching as well as a lot of self-motivation. The swimmers‘ hard work paid off for their last competition.

Promising start to the season

For the dive team, the season is going well so far. Unlike other teams, the dive team is very itinerant in that none of the team’s practices are on campus. For pool practices, the divers go to Cerritos, and for dry land practices, they go to Santa Fe Springs. They also work out with a variety of different age groups from middle-schoolers to college students. Junior Derek Gutierrez and sophomore Austyn Lewis hope to make nationals this year. To qualify for nationals, a diver must gain two hundred points for both the one meter and the three meter dives. Gutierrez is only fifteen points away from making nationals. Lewis is also learning quickly and still has a chance to qualify.