The swim and dive team’s regular season came to an end last weekend at the Pacific Coast Swimming Conference (PCSC) championship in Los Angeles. The Cougars finished sixth out of 10 teams.
A few of the athletes are preparing for the NCAA National Championships on March 9-12. Sophomore diver Kiana Mourer and freshman diver Rachel Johns have already secured their spot in Nationals, while sophomore swimmer Rosalee Mira Santa Ana and freshman swimmer Abigail Wiet hope their NCAA ‘B’ times earn a spot at Nationals. Both Mourer and Santa Ana made Nationals last year as freshmen.
“We had a phenomenal year,” head coach Tim Kyle said. “We had great team leadership, and our captains did a tremendous job. I really believe that when you stick together, train hard and motivate each other for as many hours as we do, that’s where a lot of our success comes from.”
Kyle explained that one of the reasons why they have performed so well is because the program is dedicated to developing athletes by setting the bar at a high level.
“My expectations are to develop the total athlete all the way around,” Kyle said. “When we look at the development of the team, I’d say that we have exceeded expectations. The program is developing and [the swimmers are] getting faster. We’re headed in the right direction.”
Both the divers and swimmers had outstanding performances during the PCSC Championships.
Seniors and team captains Erica Knudsen, Anna Eckberg and Lindsey Luebker helped contribute to the team’s success and performed well in their last career meet. Knudsen finished third in the “C” final of the 100-yard freestyle, and Luebker has helped her team as both a swimmer and diver this season.
Santa Ana posted a season best time of 17:19.46 in the 1650-yard freestyle race, earning her an NCAA ‘B’ time. then she believes there will be a big difference from this year, compared to last.
“I could say that I’m much more prepared this year compared to last year,” Santa Ana said. “Just the fact that this has been an Olympic year for me, I know that I’ve worked so much harder this year, and I’m more passionate and ready to compete.”
Mourer broke the school record in the three-meter dive during the championships and won both the one-meter and three-meter diving competitions for a second consecutive season. She was also renamed Diver of the Meet.
“Our performance has been very strong,” Mourer said. “I’ve been working more on technique, and Rachel [Johns] has been working on the difficulty of her dives. We’re both able to push each other to get better, and having that competitive aspect is nice in practice. I think we’ll do well in Nationals.”
Regarding Nationals, Mourer stated that she is a lot more confident this year, and she believes that that will help her perform better.
“I think my performance will improve a lot [compared to last year] given the fact that I have more confidence, but at the same time, I believe that there’s a lot of room to grow, so I’m more excited to see how I’ll improve junior and senior year,” Mourer said.
Johns also placed in the top 10 in both the one-meter and three-meter, giving APU a strong finish alongside Mourer in the diving competition.
Wiet had an outstanding performance in the PCSC Championships, as she broke the school records for the 400-IM, the 100-backstroke and the 200-backstroke. She was proud to break these records, but humbly credits her teammates for their constant support and motivation. Originally from Ohio, Wiet expressed how the team helped her cope with being away from home.
“For me, team chemistry is very important. Swimming wasn’t my first sport,” Wiet said. “I played soccer, volleyball and water polo, so I’m used to relying on other people—from having them push me and me pushing them. Coming onto this team and having them come around me was huge since I’m so far away from home. [Because] they were so open and nice, I felt that I didn’t have to miss home as much, because it felt like home here and they were my family.”
Wiet’s teammates expressed similar sentiments. Mourer voiced that simply seeing all the hard work that her teammates put in motivated her to get better every day. Santa Ana explained that team unity and their faith in Christ helped them succeed through the season.
“We help keep each other together. We are family, and they are my sisters in Christ,” Santa Ana said.
The offical qualifier list will be released today at www.NCAA.com.