Women swimmers toppled four records over the weekend
By Jake Mosbach
When the Hawkeye women’s swimming and diving team entered the pool for the Hawkeye Invitational on Dec. 4, it quickly became clear that no school record was safe.
Four Hawkeye records fell before the weekend was over, with a host of Hawkeyes contributing to the historic performances.
Dec. 4, the first night of competition, featured two record-breakers, with junior Emma Sougstad setting the new mark in her 50 free split of the 200-free relay. She completed the leg in 22.63 (the overall relay time was also the second-best time in school history).
To cap the night off, the 400-medley relay team of senior Olivia Kabacinski, freshman Kelly McNamara, sophomore Meghan Lavelle, and Sougstad grabbed the school record with a time of 3:38.62.
“To break some of the records we broke, that was really unexpected,” Kabacinski said. “Those times could give us some really good seeds at the Big Tens, so we’re all so happy with how it went.”
On the second day of competition, freshman McNamara turned heads once again as she earned a solo record of her own. In the 100 fly preliminaries, McNamara touched in 53.90.
McNamara, who impressed observers from the moment she stepped on campus, credits upperclassmen such as Kabacinski for pushing her throughout the weekend.
“[The seniors] were such a big help throughout the competition,” McNamara said. “Obviously, I never expected to be doing this well right now, but it was just really cool to look up and see my time.”
With the youth of the team performing so well, it seems pretty clear that the team is in good hands when senior leaders such as Kabacinski graduate.
And Kabacinski is certain that McNamara will be one of those who step up to take control of the program.
“It’s great to see someone so young excelling already,” Kabacinski said. “It’s cool for her to recognize what’s out there for her to accomplish, whether that’s NCAA titles or just making it to NCAAs. She’ll be a great one to lead for years to come.”
On the third and final night of the meet, the Hawkeyes put the cherry on top of the event with a school record in the 400-free relay with Kabacinski, Nikol Lagodzinksa, Sougstad, and sophomore Carly O’ Brien in the water. They touched in 3:20.58.
Head coach Marc Long was more than impressed with his team following the final day of competition, noting that the swimmers hadn’t shaved for the event.
“We had a lot of great swims and great performances overall, getting records in the pool” Long said. “The relay got a school record at the end, which is amazing, because we suited up. We didn’t shave.”
After contributing to two of the four broken records over the weekend, Kabacinski said she’s begun to feel when a good swim is in the works.
And she’s had more than her fair share of “good swims” this season.
“I can usually feel from my first 25 [meters] how the race is going,” Kabacinski said. “If I kind of get in to my pace and feel strong and catch a lot of water, I can tell that it’ll be pretty good. Then you just have to hold on until the end.”
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