Swimming and diving: back to the drawing board

By: Chris Wells, Staff Writer

Towson men’s and women’s swimming and diving both lost their first dual meet of the season at Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rival William & Mary on Oct. 10.

Head Coach Pat Mead plans on putting the Tiger’s defeat behind them and moving forward.

“We’re getting back to work first thing Monday with a 6 a.m. workout,” Mead said. “Sometimes you have to lose to remind yourself what you are fighting to win.”

Junior Macey Arnold performed at a high level and won the 200-yard (1:51.71), 500-yard (5:01.61) and 1000-yard freestyle (10:14.45) events.

Senior Jenna Van Camp also had a strong meet and won the 100-yard (1:05.01) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:20.76.) events.

Senior Charlotte Holz won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:07.12.

“Macey Arnold, Jenna Van Camp and Charlotte Holz led the fight against a very talented William & Mary team,” Mead said. “Our women will need to learn from this loss and become better in all aspects of their training if they hope to be competitive at the end of the year.”

On the men’s side freshmen Jack Saunderson flashed his potential winning the 200-yard butterfly event with a time of 1:50.43.

Tiger’s dominated the 1000-yard freestyle event taking the top three finishes led by junior Tim Schade (9:29.78), sophomore Matt Sieffert  (9:37.46) and junior Brandon Ress.

The youth of the team was evident in defeat as Coach Mead expected more from his large group of freshmen.

“We are very young it seems in many areas,” Mead said. “Some might say this is going to be a rebuilding year from the looks of things.”

Though the dual meet season may prove tougher than expected, Coach Mead is looking forward to individuals prospects of a strong postseason.

“I am excited about the conference championships, there are a great number of people with potential it’s just a matter of who wants to do the work necessary to be great,” Mead said.

Looking to get their first dual meet victory of the season the Tigers will head to Georgetown University on Oct. 17 at 1 p.m.

“We will have lots of work to do so our dual meet season might be rough, but the end will be solid,” Mead said. “Again, we will get back after it on Monday with a new enthusiasm and desire to be great.”