First Weekend of Competition

The Mules 2010 "competition season" kicked off the weekend before Thanksgiving with a home meet verses Amherst (ranked 4th nationally) on Saturday followed by an away meet meet verses the University of New England on Tuesday. Both the men's and women's teams came away from the weekend with a 1-1 record...and many strong performances were recorded. The results of both meets can be viewed on this blog, the main Colby Swimming web site and on the team's internal wiki page, so I won't go into too much detail in this post. There were many postives to take away from both meets while at the same time a few weaknesses were exposed which is to be expected at this point in the season. Overall our team's comittment to cross training and aerobic base development in September and October was evident in each the meets. In fact in comparison to the 2008 and 2009 seasons, the returning team members posted a high percentage of faster swims particularly in the middle distance races. Our sprints looked a bit rusty - which was expected - and in fact we saw a nice improvement in our sprints in just the 2 days between meets. With 11 team members studying abroad this fall, our teams focus has been on individual performances and development. This will continue to be our approach at the MIT Winter Invite this weekend - where we are looking to take another strong step forward in preparation for competition in February and March.

As the alumni of the last decade know - the team votes on the Performer of the Week after each weekend of competition. With two meets this past weekend, three weeks of in season practice, plus seven weeks of individual conditioning, there were a lot of factors to consider. The women nominated: Laura Burns, Danielle Carlson, Heather Cronin, and Allision Mond, while the men nominated James Hootsmans, Raymond Rieling and Ryan Trafton. In the nomination process all seven were commended for their fall training, leadership/spirit in practice and successful performances (swimming and diving) at both meets.

RAYMOND RIELING '12:

Raymond has been sensational has been simply sensational this fall. This past weekend he posted a 1:51.92 in the 200 Free and a 51.79 in the 100 free. Both times are faster than any swim in-season last year prior to the Bowdoin dual meet (February 7th!). Raymond's early success is a tremendous reward and motivator for his dedication to conditioning in Sept & Oct, his commitment to healthy lifestyle choices and (according to his coach) his willingness to transition from the sprint to middies training group! In addition to his personal success and training the team noted his spirit on deck at the meets and his vocal support for teammates during practice.

DANIELLE CARLSON '10 :

The end of Danielle's junior season was one of incredible achievements and painful just misses. At the NESCAC championships, she took down Sally White's 21 year old school record in the 400IM with a time that placed her 23rd in the nation; unfortuntely, the NCAA selected 21 women for nationals in the event. In the fall Danielle returned to campus with 480 miles if summer running under her belt and a determination to return to NCAAs in her senior season. Her dedication to conditioning continued in Sept & Oct with daily sessions in the pool, weight room and on the roads and these efforts have transitioned into the team's training season as well. Over the weekend Danielle posted a 1:58.56 in the 200 Free (her fastest unshaved time ever...and faster than she went at NESCACs in '07 & '08), a 26.06 in the 50 Free (best unshaved), a 55.97 in the 100 Free (2nd best unshaved by only 0.06's), a 2:34.93 in the 200 breast (best unshaved), 2:16.50 in the 200 IM (best unshaved) and 4:45.17 in the 400IM which was her second best unshaved during her Colby career. An absolutely incredible beginning for Danielle's senior year!!

Both Danielle's and Raymond's early season success is a true testament to what any of us can achieve if we make a real comitment to conditioning and preparation. Without a coach standing over you, this takes an significant amount of perseverance and personal will...it is wonderful to see both of them be rewarded for their efforts and choices over the past 4 months.

Congrats to both..."YOU HAVE MADE MY LIST!!"

Coach Burton