The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/9/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ben Herbst Kelly Norsworthy '08

Media Credit: Ben Herbst The Men's and Women's teams celebrate their CBB title

Since December, the Colby men's and women's swimming and diving teams have had an outstanding season, losing only one meet to Middlebury College while defeating Bowdoin College, Trinity College, Wesleyan University, Bates College, the University of New England and Norwich University. The women also beat Husson College.

The hard work the teams put in throughout December and January has allowed them to obtain this impressive record. Senior Captain Mary Warlaumont said, "Over the past month, our team has really come together in and out of the pool. We trained very hard during our training trip in Puerto Rico and for the majority of January, leading to very fast swims during recent meets."

Both the men and women most recently competed against Bowdoin, where the women took a narrow 152-142 win while the men took a more decisive 117-113 victory. The wins meant that both teams held onto their Colby-Bates-Bowdoin titles. The women won the title for the fourth straight year, while the men picked up the title for the third consecutive year. The Bowdoin meet was a tense one for the women, with the result coming down to the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Franny Izzo '10, Courtney Chilcote '09, Danielle Carlson '10 and Kelsey Potdevin '09 came through for the Mules to win the event, just a fraction of a second ahead of the Polar Bear team. Captain Kristi Boman '08 commented of the Bowdoin meet, "The emotion and heart that everyone swam with was incredible. We're hoping to carry this emotion with us as we head into NESCACs next weekend."

The New England Small College Athletic Conference championships will be held at Williams College for the women starting today, while the men will compete at Bowdoin on February 23. Captain Weather Potdevin '07 said, "We expect NESCACs to be the final addition to our great season. We are excited to see how we will swim against all the teams at NESCACs. So far this season we have had numerous lifetime and season best swims by many members of the team, so we are waiting to see what will happen when we are fully tapered."
A number of male and female Mules currently hold some of the fastest times in the NESCAC in their events. Jabez Dewey '07 is second in the 50-yard backstroke and fourth in the 100 back. The Colby men's 800 freestyle relay of Dewey, Kevin Smith '10, Evan Mullin '08 and Sam Wampler '09 holds the fifth fastest time, as does the 200 medley relay of Dewey, Captain Mitch Bartkiewicz, Ben Gross '10 and Wampler.

On the women's side, junior Kelly Norsworthy is second in the 50 and 100 breast and first in the 100 IM. The women's 800 freestyle relay of Annie Muir '07, Izzo, Carlson and Sam Rose '08 is fifth, while the 200 medley relay of Kelsey Potdevin, Norsworthy, Maddie Given '08 and Carlson is fourth. Colby's 400 medley relay of Kelsey Potdevin, Muir, Jamie Warner '09 and Izzo is also fifth.

Norsworthy has been honored numerous times this season, as the National Division III Women's Swimmer of the Week by collegeswimming.com and as the Collegiate Swimmer of the Week by Swimming World Magazine.

Captain Ryan Adams '07 also has high expectations for NESCACs and beyond. "The team is really looking forward to tapering and taking NESCACs by storm. It's our goal to qualify a relay team for the national meet. At our current level of success, I wouldn't be surprised to see some team records broken."

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