On Thursday, Jan. 29, the women’s swim club was defeated by King’s College, 115-74 and on Saturday, Feb. 1, by Arcadia University, 125-99. High scoring swimmers were junior Gina Treml, sophomore Jodi McHenry and freshman, Heather Pino.
In Thursday’s meet, Treml came in first in the 1000 yard freestyle and 100 yard backstroke. She also placed first in the 1000-yard freestyle and 50 yard freestyle on Saturday.
McHenry followed suit by coming in first in the 100 yard butterfly on Thursday and on Saturday, first in the 100 yard freestyle, 200 yard freestyle, 200 yard individual medley and the 100 yard butterfly.
Pino also received first place honors in the 200 yard freestyle and the 500 yard freestyle competition in Thursday’s meet.
“Everybody on our team did well during our meets, but I must say that Gina Treml is an excellent freestyler and Jodi dominated in the butterfly,” swimming coach Jaime Ragukonis said.
Even sophomore Jennifer Rains, who was unable to swim for a month, put forth effort during the last two swim meets. She swam with an injured wrist and achieved second place in the 50 and third in the 100.
“Next year, we plan to be a challenge for other teams and defeat our own challenges. We could have won with the effort we put into [the swim meets] if we would have had a bigger team and if some of our swimmers had not quit on us,” Rains said.
Ragukonis believes that the atmosphere among the swim club has been a great factor in why the girls were able to excel and do their best during only four meets this year. “We did a lot of team bonding by going out to dinner and having fun. There was no pressure. Everyone was just excited to be here,” Ragukonis said.
Even Ana Dougherty felt welcome as a freshman. “I really didn’t know what to expect when I joined because I never swam before, and I just really had no idea what it would be like. It was a lot at first, but I think that was just because I was never part of a team like this before.”
Although the swim season is over, after a month’s rest, the girls will still have practice twice a week and get together for a few outings. They are also taking part in ‘Relay for Life,’ which is a fundraiser that is held to fight for cancer.
“We are inviting any female athlete who is interested in joining the team next year to come and practice with us. You will be able to see what our practices are like and meet the girls who are already on the team, and our coach,” Treml said.
The club’s plan for the upcoming season is to make varsity status, so that they will be able to compete more and enter competitions against the bigger schools.
“Our biggest challenges are to get an even bigger team, to make ourselves stronger, and to get help in our coaching area. To win, we will need all of the help we can get,” sophomore Stephanie Christ said.
If you are interested in joining the swim team next season, contact Coach Ragukonis at jragukonis@hotmail.com.
