Swimming team builds momentum going into Southwest Conference finale

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by David Gordon

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The men's and women's swimming teams traveled to California Jan. 2-11 for over a week of intense training.

They capped off the trip with an impressive performance at the University of California at Irvine Invitational.

The team usually takes a trip over the winter holiday to improve their performance at the Southwest Conference meet by getting practice in longer length pools. The Rice Pool is one half the length of competition pools.

"It's common for us to just go someplace to get in a long-course pool and also just to be someplace different," Head Coach Kris Wingenroth said.

The team seemed pleased with the training.

"We worked really hard and got our work in. It should prove to pay off at conference." Robin Davidson said.

The meet was divided into three competitons. The distance meet took place on Friday followed by the individual meet on Saturday. The relay meets took place on Sunday.

Only a few swimmers who specialize in the distance events hit the water on Friday.

Ginny Farmer took first place in both the 400-yard individual medley and the 1,650 freestyle. Her time of 17:19.53 in the freestyle event was over 30 seconds better than the second-place finisher.

Farmer plans on attending the Olympic trials this spring.

Tricia Besselman took third in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 11:05.69.

Josh Kimmel and David Henry represented the men's team on Friday.

Henry took third in the 1,650 freestyle and seventh in the 400 individual medley.

Kimmel took sixth in the 500 freestyle and finished just .29 seconds behind Henry in the 400 individual medley.

On Saturday, the women's team faced some tough competition from local swimming clubs, but they finished first with 440 points.

The accumulation of unattached competitors scored 433 points. The University of San Diego took third with 173 points.

The team had strong performances in the freestyle and medley events.

In the 200 freestyle, Ginny Farmer and Carrie Covington swept the first two spots in the 84-swimmer field. Amy Ferranti finished seventh.

Covington also took second in the 100 freestyle, followed by Julie Birch in third and Farmer in fourth. Birch and Covington also placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 50 freestyle.

The team dominated the 200 individual medley, placing six swimmers in the top ten. Farmer took the top spot with a time of 2:08.87.

She was followed by Covington in third, Birch in fifth, Davidson in seventh and Kristen Wagle in eighth.

Other top performances by the team included taking fourth through seventh places in the 100 butterfly, a fourth-place finish by Heather Draper in the 100 backstroke and a fifth through seventh sweep in the 100 breaststroke.

The men ended Saturday with the second highest collegiate score, finishing behind California State University at Bakersfield.

Dave Stignant was one of the team's top scorers. He took first in the 200 backstroke, eighth in the 100 backstroke and eighth in the 200 individual medley.

Nick Del Favero placed sixth in the 100 backstroke.

Aaron Mullins and Steve Quance were the top freestylers. They finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 50. Quance took fourth in the 100. Mullins followed just one second behind in ninth.

The men also turned in strong performances in the butterfly events. Brant Hasebe and Jim Bridenstine took fourth and fifth, respectively.

Four swimmers finished in the top 10 in the 200. Hasebe took fifth followed by Bridenstine in seventh, Kimmel in ninth and Alex Fuller in 10th.

Kimmel and Stignant were joined by Jon Armstrong in the top 10 of the 200 individual medley.

In the relay competition, the women's team edged Fresno State University by one point to take first place. The men's team finished second to the University of the Pacific.

The women's team took first place in the 3x100 butterfly, the 3x100 backstroke, the 3x100 breaststroke and the 800 freestyle.

The men took first in the 3x100 backstroke and second in the 200 freestyle relay, 3x100 backstroke and the 800 freestyle relay.

"I was very pleased with how well they swam under the training conditions. People can be torn down and swimming sluggish afterwards," Wingenroth said.

The next meet is this Saturday when Texas Christian University visits the Rice Pool for a conference preview.

"We are feeling better and swimming faster," men's team co-captain Brant Hasebe said.

"All that's left is resting for the conference meet."

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