Swimmers end second season with 4-3 record
HOSEA KOST
A year after placing fifth in the NSIC championship in its inaugural season, the Augustana swim team made sure to keep the program afloat in its sophomore year.
This year, the swim team placed fourth in the NSIC championship after going 4-3 overall.
The season’s highlights include the team placing first in Morningside, second at the Dragon-Cobber Open, and fourth at the Mankato State University Moorhead Dragon Invite.
Freshman swimmer Taylor Beagle swam her way to two individual conference championships in the 1000-meter and 1600-meter freestyle. Her impressive performance over the season earned her NSIC Freshman of the Year.
“It’s really cool and I’m really honored,” Beagle said. “There were a lot of really good and hard-working freshmen this year in the conference. I was just really happy that I could represent Augie well.”
The swim team was able to increase its depth with a new school of swimmers in the freshman class. Sophomore Linzie Kreizel said more teammates allowed for more competition and motivation while training.
“The freshman class brought in some incredibly talented girls with training methods that my class wasn’t used to,” Kreizel said. “This caused us all to push ourselves harder during practices and at meets—friendly competition is one thing that I believe helped us achieve all that we did this year.”
Although it is no longer a stranger to conference competition, there is still a lot the team looks forward to improving on.
“Next year I think the team could work on communication, especially while on the pool deck,” Kreizel said. “The friendly competition during practice and meets can very quickly turn not so friendly during a week of hard classes or after a bad race. Being able to communicate how you’re feeling and whatnot before a workout can greatly determine the type of work that has to and will be put in that day.”
However, the season is not quite done for some swimmers. On March 1, the results for national qualification will be released.
