Ian McDonaldDeborah Williams, a freshman psychology major, is an integral part of the women’s swim team at Cabrini College.
Williams went to high school in Maryland at Elizabeth Seton High School where she swam on their swim team for three years.
Williams said that Cabrini College having a women’s swim team made a huge impact on her decision to attend. She visited last February for an overnight visit and received a warm welcome from the team.
Perhaps that friendly welcome was a foreshadowing of the friendships she would make with the women on the team. Williams said that the she really likes the team because they are all more friends than just teammates. The women will all attend dinner together and do other “little things” like go out for pizza off campus.
Williams said that there are some noticeable differences in her high school swim team compared to the one at Cabrini College. For example, she noted that at Cabrini College the team incorporates the use of fins and paddles, but in her high school they barely used them. Moreover, in her high school they would mostly work all strokes, but at Cabrini they focus a lot on the free-style stroke.
Also, Williams said that she has “improved a lot since high school.” Her individual goals for the upcoming season include lowering her time in the 50 free from 29 seconds to 27 seconds. Also, she wants to work on lowering her time in the 100 free from 1.06 to 1.03.
She has admitted to getting the pre-competition jitters right before a meet. Williams said, “I can’t sleep the night before because I’m so nervous.” Although she does get nervous right before a meet, she will overcome the fear and channel that nervousness into positive energy and adrenaline as the meet goes on, and she competes in more events.
Williams described the Cabrini College women’s swim team as very hard working. Although she does not have a set regiment for working out, Williams says that she tries to attend workout sessions in the gym at least three times a week in addition to the mandatory swim team practices.
Williams encourages everyone to come out to their upcoming meets to see her and the other members of the team compete.
Posted to the web by Shawn Rice
