The phrase “killing two birds with one stone” perfectly describes the Cabrini women’s swim team’s double victory against both King’s College and the College of Notre Dame in their second meet of the season on Saturday, Nov. 3 at King’s College. And if that wasn’t enough to set the Cavaliers up for perhaps their best season yet, the six school records broken by new Cabrini freshman swimmers certainly added fuel to the fire.
Led by individual record breakers Andrea Carabello, Gina Nicotera, Shawnee Gehman and Jena Dougherty, the Cavs emerged victorious in all but three events. From the first record smashing victory in the 400-medley relay to the final win and best ever time in the 400 freestyle relay, it quickly became evident that the Lady Cavaliers were a force to be reckoned with.
Freshman Carabello set the pace for Cabrini by winning every race she competed in. Her performance in the 100-yard freestyle set a new school record in 57.11 seconds (1.29 seconds faster than the previous best in the event), and her time of 2:09.54 in the 200 yard freestyle was the second fastest ever recorded on the team.
Fellow teammates and freshmen Nicotera and Gehman, who swam with Carabello in both record breaking relays, recorded best ever times in each of their individual victories as well. Nicotera flew by the competition in the 200 butterfly, winning the event in 2:28.05, a full 21.61 seconds faster than the next closest finisher and smashing the old event record by 11.60 seconds. Gehman claimed the 50 freestyle with a winning time of 27.46, which also broke the previous best time by 1.52 seconds.
The 200 backstroke was yet another event dominated by the Cavaliers. Freshman Jenna Dougherty and Kaitlin Manning placed first and second in the race, crushing the previous event record by 13.97 seconds and marking the two best times ever documented by a Cabrini swimmer. Dougherty’s official time of 2:31.88 earned her the fourth individual spot in the Cabrini record books after only two official meets this season.
Cabrini’s veteran swimmers have welcomed all of the outstanding freshman this year with open arms.
“All of our freshman are doing great. They are an excellent asset to the team this year,” said captain Christina Clark, a senior early childhood elementary education major, when asked how the team was reacting to its talented new members. “We are bonding as a team in and out of the pool. It’s still early, but I definitely think that this will be one of our most successful seasons ever.”
Cabrini’s next chance to shine will be Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Rowan University Invitational in Glassboro, NJ. The competition will be more intense as there are more teams attending, but for the Cavaliers, that is all the more reason to show off their talent.
