Carolina Loayza ‘26 pictured above. Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Athletics.
BY ZELLIE CALAVITA ’26
STAFF WRITER
The Mount Holyoke College Swimming & Diving team celebrated their seniors during their last dual meet of the season against Smith College on Saturday, Feb. 10, winning 4 out of 16 events.
The meet started with the 200-yard medley relay, where the Lyons’ A Team, consisting of Adji Diouf ’24, Megan Schneider ’25, Isabel Dunn ’27 and Kamlyn Yosick ’25, placed second with a time of 1:56.1. In the 200-yard butterfly, Carolina Loayza ’26 finished in first with a time of 2:18.8, leading a 1, 2, 3 sweep with Hannah Heierhoff ’25 and Eliza Williams ’24 coming in second and third place, respectively.
Yosick won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.68, followed by Sophie Allen ’26 in second place with a time of 26.48 and Maddy Ache ’27 in third with a time of 27.15. “It was a close competition against Smith that pushed us to race the best we could and I’m extremely proud of how the team came together to support and celebrate our seniors,” Rebecca Pursner ’27 said.
Mount Holyoke swimmers finished first and second in the 100-yard butterfly, with Loayza finishing first again with a time of 1:00.9, just in front of Dunn’s time of 1:02.64.
Diver Maddy Sewell ’24 came in second place in the 1-meter dive with a score of 220.86, while Ainsley Gruener ’26 and Hermione Hatch ’27 followed in fourth and fifth place, respectively, with scores of 114.52 and 108.52.
In the last event, the 200-yard freestyle relay, Mount Holyoke’s A Team finished in first place, with Loayza, Allen, Schneider and Yosick coming in with a 1:42.98 time. “I could not be more proud of my team's performance yesterday!” Sarah Delk ’27 wrote in an email to Mount Holyoke News after the meet. “A lot of people swam personal and season bests, and it was so much fun watching my teammates crush their races!” Meiko Norton ’27 wrote, “Competing against Smith was so exciting! The deck was so lively and everyone was cheering for their teammates.”
As for the senior celebrations, the walls of the natatorium were covered in dozens of motivational posters, dubbed psych-ups by the team, celebrating each of the nine seniors. They were each cheered on as they entered through a tunnel of their teammates’ arms and were individually recognized for their achievements over the last four years. “Everyone was so emotional and it was a really wonderful moment,” Molly Malloy ’26 said. “Each one of this year’s seniors has made such an impact on me, not only as a swimmer, but as a person as well.” Madeline Hood ’27 said. “Everyday this season they have pushed me to keep getting better and work just as hard as they do, and I am very proud of all of the seniors for every impressive accomplishment they have made.”
Next up for Mount Holyoke Swimming & Diving is the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Championships. “The next couple of weeks we'll be focusing on getting ready for NEWMACS, and given how hard the team has been working up until this point I'm very confident that we'll have even more great races then,” Ache said.The NEWMAC Championships start Feb. 22 at MIT.