This past week, the Hopkins men’s and women’s swim teams competed at the Bluegrass Mountain Championship in Charlotte, N.C., a competition that lasted three days for the athletes.
The women’s team took silver in the championship, finishing with 661 points overall. The Lady Jays were able to win two individual titles and two relay titles, breaking eight school records throughout the championship.
Junior Taylor Kitayama broke two school and meet records in the 100 fly and the 100 back. Kitayama finished with a bronze medal in the 200 back. Her time of 1:59.97 was the second fastest time in school history and automatically qualifies her for the NCAA Tournament. Kitayama finished the championship with four titles, bringing her career total to 15-which is the most in school history.
When asked about the meet, Kitayama said,
“This past week was both a reflection on the great season we've had this year and an indicator of what is still to come for those going on to NCAAs. Being able to swim great times a month out from nationals is very exciting because we know that with more work and a lot of focus during these next 30 days, we have the potential to do something really great. This past week has set us up well to do some real damage at NCAAs in March!”
She was also part of two relay teams that broke both school and meet records in the 800 Free Relay and the 400 Free Relay. The first team, made up of Kitayama, junior Sarah Rinsma, junior Alex Ladd and sophomore Ana Bogdanovski, finished the 800 Free Relay in 7:23.88. The second team was made up of Kitayama, Bogdanovski, Rinsma and senior Eleanor Gardner, who finished the 400 Free Relay in 3:23.62.
Other memorable wins were Bogdanovski taking silver in the 100 free, and sophomore Sammi Fox breaking two school records in both the 200 and 400 individual medleys. Also, the Hopkins relay teams broke school records in both the 400 and 200 medley relays.
Sophomore Selena Guerrero-Martin, when asked how the team got through the long meet, said.
“We train a lot of very hard hours so it’s awesome to see all of the work pay off. Everyone was very supportive and positive throughout the week, which is really important when a meet has multiple sessions over multiple days.”
In men’s swimming, the Blue Jays took the Bronze at the BMC, finishing with 481 points and breaking two school records overall.
Freshman Alex Lambert gave some insight on how the team prepared for the tough competition.
“The team was definitely focused on racing and not so much on times. Winning all of the close races was our coach's goal. The conference was a lot tougher this season and many conference records were broken. In preparation for the meet, we kept healthy diets and increased our sleep. Right before a race everyone's rituals are different. I like to visualize my race beforehand so I don't have to worry about thinking during my race. That, a good warm-up, and some great pump-up playlists help us perform at our best during a race.”
Senior Dylan Coggin won the 100 Free, finishing in 44.63 and breaking the school record by one hundredth of a second. This time also automatically qualifies him for the NCAA Tournament. This is the Blue Jays’ first individual title in Hopkins’ fourth year in the conference.
Junior Alex Polyak placed fourth in the B Final of the 200 Breast, coming in with a time of 2:07.74. Three Hopkins swimmers competed in the C Final. Senior Tyler Woods took fourth in 46.33, junior Will Kimball came in fifth with a time of 46.10, followed by sophomore Edward Pagano in sixth with a time of 47.41.
Freshman Billy Gravley came in fourth-place in the 1650 Free, with a time of 16:02.93, which is an NCAA provisional time.
When asked about the overall performance of the Blue Jays at the conference, Gravley said,
"Overall, I felt the team gave a solid performance. I’m most looking forward to seeing how my teammates swim at nationals next month. The entire team has been working extremely hard all season long, and all the time paid should converge to a very successful championship. I couldn’t be more excited to see everyone race.”
Both teams will continue training for the NCAA Championship at the end of March.
