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Stand-out performers were senior co-captain Nate Curll who set a school record in the 100-fly and finished 8th in the 50-yard fly. Diver Dan Perry had a strong showing in the 3-meter dive placing 6th. The 200-yard freestyle relay team- composed of Chris Guerette, Fisher Qua, Will Youmans and Erik Baker finished 8th while the 400-yard medley relay- composed of Eric Bowden, Adam Eggert, Curll and Guerette finished 9th. These were the only top ten finishes for Bates swimmers on the day.
Williams won the meet, winning their third consecutive NESCAC title. Even though as a team they did not finish where they would have liked, the meet was still a success.
"Individually everyone cut a little in time for themselves, which was exciting to watch," said Curll.
The NESCAC conference is one of the most competitive conferences in the country, with every team able to post very quick times.
"Our conference is one of the fastest in the country so it is a lot of fun being there and swimming against kids who could swim at the Division I level," said Curll.
The NESCAC championships marked the end of the season for the men's swim team as none of the swimmers qualified for Nationals. Overall it was an up and down year for Bates because of various issues on the team such as individuals leaving the team in the middle of the season. However, overall it still was a successful season.
"It was a tough year, but given the circumstances it went really well," said Curll.
For seniors Curll, Phil Barr, Bowden, Eggert, Guerette and Russ Latham, the NESCAC championships marked the end of their swimming careers at Bates College. These seniors were vital in providing leadership to the rest of team, which helped the team work through the various issues which arose during the season.
"We were well represented by the seniors. Six out of the 14 guys were seniors so their leadership helped out a lot," said Curll.
For the eight returning swimmers, they will look to learn from this season and hopefully with a few added recruits will come out strong next season.
The women's team traveled to Middlebury for their NESCAC championship meet. The team was highlighted by standout performances from senior co-captain Vanessa Williamson and senior diver Kara Seaton who each won the overall individual honors in their respective events. Williamson won the 100-yard butterfly, with a finals time of 57.51 seconds, which is a national 'A' qualifying time. She also finished second in the 200-yard butterfly.
Seaton won the 1-meter dive with a score of 380.95 points. She was in 4th place after the preliminaries, but she recovered in the finals finishing first and beating the second place swimmer by 15 points. Seaton also finished 6th in the 3-meter dive. Both Williamson and Seaton qualified for the NCAA Championships which will be held in Holland, Michigan on March 10.
The Bobcats as a team finished the meet in 9th place after scoring 612 points. Even though the team did not finish as high as they would have liked, it was still a success for the team. They finished ahead of Bowdoin and there were a lot of solid individual performances.
"I was happy to see that a lot of the seniors got personal best times as well as underclassmen.‑ The competition was very tough this year with many NESCAC swimmers placing in the top positions for Nationals so it was a little hard for our team to place individual swimmers in the top eight. The team didn't finish as high as it has in the past but it was nice to beat Bowdoin in the end since we didn't beat them in season," said Williamson.
For the women's team the NESCACS also marked the end of their season. For seniors Sarah Baldwin, Jackie Donnelly, Nicole Sparks and Allison Wensley, the NESCACS marked the end of their swimming careers at Bates. Seniors Williamson and Seaton have one more opportunity to swim for Bates at the NCAA Championships. Like the men's team, the returning swimmers and divers will look to build off of this season and improve next year.