image by Chris Schaller
One of the most tumultuously long sports seasons, swimming, ended on a high note. The men’s team won the Atlantic East conference tournament and the women’s team came in second.
For the women’s team, in which their first meet was scheduled to be in October, they did not compete at a meet until March 22. Their first matchup was against Immaculata and then against Marymount University. “Getting back into the swimming mentality when the season was delayed until April and May, made practices and preparations even more important,” senior Amanda Lynn said.
The men’s first match was scheduled to be in October but was delayed until March. “We more than likely will never have a season like this again, and what better way to finish off a wild season than to win the conference tournament again,” Nick Kinroy, senior, said. Cabrini’s men’s team won the Atlantic East Conference tournament, Saturday, April 24th
Swimmers with the best times throughout the season were: Tara McCloskey, senior, Sarah Gudas, junior, Tori Delusant, senior, Nevaeh Williams, freshman and Belinda Hadden, freshman. The six swimmers had the lowest average time amongst all of the competitions combined. In the Conference tournament during the weekend of April 22-April-24, the team as a whole placed second in the conference tournament. The Cavaliers finished with 608.5 points which was surpassed by the winner St Mary’s (Maryland).
The best averages amongst the Cavaliers were Tre Fissella, junior, Luke McDevitt, senior, Mac Granto, junior, Colin Taggart, junior and Michael Gray, freshman. The men finished the conference tournament in first place with 830 overall points, exceeding conference foes, Marymount University and St Mary’s (Maryland) who finished second and third.
Image by Cabrini Athletics Twitter
The 50m freestyle is where Cabrini’s men excelled during the three meets that they had this year. The top five times throughout the seasons were: 22.29 by Fissella, 22.37 by Granto, 23.11 by Taggert and 23.26 by Gray. Other notable competitions in which the men’s team dominated during the tournament were the: 100m breaststroke, 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 200m fly. Cabrini’s men threepeated as Men’s swimming champions, they have built a program through head coach Cindy Ikeler, who became the head coach of both the men’s and women’s team back in 2012.
The women’s team was heading into the conference tournament looking to threepeat their conference titles that were won in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. They fell short during the tournament finishing in second which is still a notable accomplishment. The Cavaliers performed well but ending upcoming short in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m backstroke and 100m breaststroke.
A good portion of the swimmers on both teams are not seniors and will be back for the 2021-2022 season, in what was a shortened season for the Cavaliers, with there only being 3 meets, all swimmers in the Atlantic East conference are allowed to have a redshirt season. A redshirt is when a collegiate athlete gets an extra year of eligibility due to either: a freshman season, an injury or due to academics. In the world of COVID-19, a college athlete can get a redshirt season because of the pandemic.
To end off a wildly unpredictable season with a men’s title and a women’s runner-up is another successful chapter in the school’s swim program’s history. Having success in a conference tournament is a massive accomplishment, but sustaining that success is why Cabrini’s swimming program is where they are right now.
