Swim teams dip into new season

Pacific University’s swim season is underway and both the men’s and women’s teams are looking to compete for a better standing position than they finished in the Northwest Conference last year.
With a number of new freshman in place on the women’s side, Head Coach Alec Webster is hoping to see some serious improvement from last seasons finish at the conference meets.
On the men’s side of the pool, Webster said, “We’re rebuilding. We had six guys graduate last year and that really hurt us.”
Despite the early onset woes of losing six seniors,  Webster is enthusiastic about the coming meets, “We’re hoping to finish fifth or better in conference.” This may prove difficult with only one senior swimmer on the team.
Young leadership has an opportunity to rise and can make for a very exciting winter season.
Freshman swimmer Kramer Ichimura is off to a good start after the first two meets.
“It’s tough with only nine guys, and three of us are freshman, but we should do okay,” Said Ichimura.           Ichimura, said, “Alec is cool, he keeps things lively.” As far as goals for the team go he said, “Just win.” That’s all the men have in mind for the coming meets.
Webster is also hoping for the men’s team to have a national qualifier and singled out Michael Hargitt as a competitor. “He works hard.”
Things for the woman’s swim team are a bit hotter, as they hope to take fourth or better in conference. They’ve been practicing in the morning since the middle of September.
Freshman Amanda Clark, whom coaches have affectionately named “Clark Kent” after superman, reflected on her experiences, “It’s hard to get up so early, but it’s worth it.”
Amanda is already breaking records at Pacific and she’s just getting started. From Olympia, Washington, she’s been swimming from the time she was 9 years old and all her extra practices are paying off.
Both the men’s and the women’s swim teams will not have a home swim meet until January and are preparing themselves for the long stretch on the road. They plan to continue to work hard and keep their chins up so when they do swim at home, they will win.
Both teams will get two weeks off for Christmas and New Years. They will be swimming at Pacific on Jan. 13 against the University of Puget Sound.