Photo courtesy of Erin Schrama '23. Maddy Sewell '24 was named as a NEWMAC Diver of the Week after winning 1-meter diving and 3-meter diving at the Don Richards Invitational.
By Genevieve Zahner ’26
Staff Writer
Mount Holyoke Swimming and Diving competed the weekend of Dec. 3 and 4 at the Don Richards Invitational, hosted at Rochester Institute of Technology. The meet ended with Mount Holyoke taking fifth place out of seven competing teams, including RIT who took first, Skidmore College who took second, St. Lawrence University who took third, Clarkson University who took fourth, Hobart and William Smith Colleges who took sixth and Bard College who took seventh. Mount Holyoke completed the meet with a score of 344 total points.
“I think that the meet went well,” Evelyn Bushway ’24 said. “It was a tough meet to compete in, especially after having a week off for [November] break, but I loved that everyone stepped up to push through in their events.”
Head Swimming and Diving Coach Dave Allen was also happy with the results of the meet. “It is a tough time in the season and it was great to see some people set personal and season best times already.”
Lauren Brook ’24 spoke about the process of getting ready for the meet, saying, “I think a major part of preparing for meets is using them as opportunities to uplift teammates and cultivate a positive and family-like team culture.”
Expanding on the team’s culture, Brook also talked about specific team traditions. “Each week, every team member pulls another name out of a bucket and makes a motivational [‘psych-up’] poster for that individual,” she said. “At the end of the meet, we circle up and each person states one thing that they are proud of themselves for accomplishing and something they are proud of that their ‘psych up’ accomplished.”
In the diving well, Maddy Sewell ’24 took first place out of eight competitors in 1-meter diving, scoring 409.15 points. Following that win, Sewell also won 3-meter diving, scoring 415.45 points. Sewell was named the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Diver of the Week on Dec. 5 for her winning performance on both boards.
In the competition swimming pool, Carolina Loayza ’26 led the Lyons with the highest individual finish of the meet, taking second place out of 22 swimmers in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.26. Eliza Williams ’24 took sixth place in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 19:12.87, eighth in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 5:03.14 and ninth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:41.92.
Hannah Heierhoff ’25 earned ninth place in both the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:04.72 and the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:26.90. Seran Goudsouzian ’24 placed 14th in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:48.30. Bushway placed 11th in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:42.69 and 12th in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:36.41.
Meanwhile, Adji Diouf ’24 took 12th place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 58.28 seconds and 15th in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.40 seconds. Captain Anais Magner ’23 placed 12th in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:05.04. Additionally, Megan Schneider ’25 took 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:16.59. Schneider also took 16th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.43 seconds.
Allen said he is looking forward to building from this meet. “We have a strong team, and we’re looking forward to increased competition in the second half of the season,” he said.
Swimming and Diving’s next competition will take place on Jan. 11, 2023, with Vassar College and Trinity College in a tri-meet at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Sophie Allen ’26 said that the next competition “will be a great time to train for the rest of our meets [and] eventually [NEWMAC].” She added, “Overall, I feel great about the rest of the season.”