The 2022-2023 swim season is almost over following the last regular season meet over the weekend. The team competed at Center College and came out with some first-place finishes and top-three results.
Despite their loss of 59-156, Head Coach Graham Duncan saw some positive takeaways from the event.
“While we lost in the final score, I use dual meets as a way to see how we are racing and competing and, as it was our last meet before conference, I was happy with what I saw from our swimmers in their races,” Duncan said.
While they competed well, they did try to have some fun during their last tournament. Junior Naomi Eriksen laughed as she recounted how two of their guys had a heat alone, and they played rock paper scissors before jumping in the water.
“Our season as a team has been full of laughs and an intentional cohesiveness as a collective striving for a goal,” junior Ian Wang said.
The season has been a long process of growth for the team. It was Duncan’s first season, and he has been happy with the progress.
The team has continued to impress with their times and dedication, especially with their early performance in the Gail Moll Pebworth Invitational as well as in practices.
“When it comes to training, I’m really happy with how everyone has worked this year. It’s been cool to see people buy into a different philosophy and approach,” Duncan said.
The team had time to come together and show appreciation for one another, especially their seniors, on Jan. 21, which was their home senior night.
“Our senior night was significant in a number of ways. Primarily, it was our only home meet of the year, so it was great to see parents and students come out and support the team in a major way,” Duncan said.
The dedicated time to appreciate their large senior class was significant to the whole team.
“I loved seeing everyone in the Luce Natatorium being able to give our seniors a great sendoff. It was also significant because it was the last home meet for a group of seniors who have worked so hard to build the culture of Asbury Swimming,” Duncan said.
For the rest of the team, senior night was full of bittersweet moments where they celebrated with close teammates for one of the last times.
“The best part of senior night was getting to shoot some slow-motion footage of all of the seniors walking through our team tunnel. It was very emotional and bittersweet to see some of the best people that have held our team up through this journey go,” Wang said.
Following the last two meets, the swim team has begun their “taper,” which is an end-of-the-year phase of training where they focus more on rest and recovery with lighter workloads.
“If you see swimmers around campus and they seem happier and more energetic than usual, this is a common side effect of taper. We’ll finish out this full week, and then we’ll hit the road to Illinois next Tuesday,” Duncan said.
Next week the team is heading to the Liberal Arts Conference Championship in their last comeptition of the season.
“I’m not big on going into meets with lots of expectations. But with that said, my goals for our conference meet are for us to race hard, to control the things we are capable of controlling, and, ultimately, to put ourselves in the best position possible to compete for the conference title,” Duncan said.
Throughout the season and after seeing all of their hard work and talent, Duncan believes in his team and knows how truly capable they are of doing well in a tournament of this caliber.
“We’ve put in the work, we’ve put in the hours, and if we do all the little things the way we know we can, we’ll have ourselves in a great position to do just that.,“ Duncan said.
“Personally, I am still hunting down that 100 breaststroke school record, which I hope to break at conference,” Wang said.
Coach Duncan and his team hope for them to leave everything they have in the pool to make their last trip together, one that shows the payoff for all of their hard work.
“God has blessed us this year, and He has given us the tools and the skills to do incredible things for His Kingdom, and I hope we can take full advantage of that next week,” Duncan said.
Starting on Tuesday in Illinois, the men’s and women’s swim teams compete for four days in the Liberal Arts Conference Championship to conclude their 2022-23 season.
