Reaching the finale of their seasons, the Augustana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled up to Pleasant Prairie, Wisc., for one of the biggest meets: the CCIW Swimming and Diving Championships. Through a competitive field, the men’s team finished first with a score of 1036 and won their fourth consecutive CCIW championship, while the women finished second with 817, only one point behind first.
For the men’s team, it is the first time they have won four straight conference titles, their longest stretch since winning three consecutive titles from 1968-71.
Heading into the season without Dan Lloyd, the former director of Swimming and Diving, who departed for Illinois Wesleyan after 11 years at Augustana, there was an air of uncertainty from some athletes. Senior Tyler Leslie wondered where the Vikings would go from there, as is normal after every coaching change. But after the program hired alumni Ramsey Vens, that uncertainty vanished quickly
“Whenever there’s a coaching switch, there’s always going to be a little bit of uncertainty, but Coach Ramsey squashed that within her first week with the program,” Leslie said. “She’s been amazing. She’s been there for her athletes, and I can tell she’s [going to] do an amazing job throughout the rest of her career with this program.”
Naturally, with both programs being defending champions, there could be pressure to perform and repeat as champions. Going into the conference championships, that pressure could be heightened as they were set to face teams that see a target on the Vikings’ backs, but in practice leading up to the events, junior Macy Ahlgren revealed how the Vikings took that opportunity to relax and keep each other grounded.
“During practice, some of the sets will absolutely suck sometimes, but there’s probably somebody in the line next to you making fun of you,” Ahlgren said. “We just try to make each other laugh, and we’re always there for each other. ”
During the diving events, which took place on Feb. 13-14, senior Kate Kucera finished fourth in the 3-meter dive event. For the men’s team, First-Year Ronin Araucto placed in the top three in the 1-meter dive, while First-Year William Quesnell finished seventh. On day two of the diving competition, the Vikings were rounded out by First-Year Presley Winters, who finished second in the 1-meter dive.
The next two days of competition saw numerous Augustana first-place finishes, including in the 50-yard freestyle, where senior Oskar Bannister claimed first with a time of 20.84. In the 500-yard freestyle, senior Mark Addison finished five seconds ahead of second place, and in the women’s 100-yard freestyle, junior Kendle Mihm won the event and highlighted an event where the Vikings claimed three of the top four spots.
Even when athletes are not participating in an event and are watching their teammates, their role does not end at the pool. Senior Lexie Seten saw firsthand how important energy and supporting your teammates are for a team during the championships.
“When you’re looking at winning a conference title, it comes down to every person on the team, even if you’re not scoring,” Seten said. “You want to swim well and keep the energy up. You want to keep those vibes high, so trusting that your teammates are all putting their best foot forward is definitely a huge role, and I think that’s something that’s helped us a lot in the past.”
After the final events, senior Mark Addison was named the Men’s Swimming Student-Athlete of the Meet, while Addison and Mihm received the Elite 26 Award and coach Ramsey Vens was named the Men’s Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year. Additionally, junior Sam Kulisek and senior Genevieve Ryan were awarded the Respect Award.
