Illinois Wesleyan’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving team pulled off a clean sweep over North Central and Millikin on January 24 for IWU’s senior night. Senior Will Garcia finished strong in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle to pull in two wins in the meet.
“Swimming is all about your mentality and if you’re expecting to have a bad race it’s not gonna be that great. But when you’re behind the block knowing you’ve done everything in your power to prepare yourself for that moment and that race it completely psyches you up,” Garcia said.
Breaking the school’s record in the 11 dive contest, senior Amber Gauthier bested her previous score setting IWU’s new record to 374.10 points.
“Having suffered multiple injuries this season, it has been hard to not be afraid of getting hurt and be confident on the board. I was able to overcome those emotions and put my best self forward on the board,” Gauthier said.
Gauthier suffered an injury in November but proven by her performance at this last meet she hasn’t her competitive edge.
First-year students Donna Kurek and Lauren Feddersen proved powerful opponents as they both brought first-place finishes to the team’s total.
Finishing the meet off with three victories, sophomore Ellen Gilbert crushed her competitors in the 200-yard butterfly, 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly.
This season that Gilbert earned CCIW Swimmer of the Week honors on January 14 based off a lifetime best in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard individual medley (IM) and 200-yard medley relay.
The women’s team walked away with a score of 236- 25 leaving North Central in their wake and defeating Millikin 174-106 for a successful meet.
As the season comes to a close, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams hope to finish strong in their conference meets.
“I feel that as a team we are also going to be very competitive in our upcoming championship meets,” Gauthier said.
“The swimmers and divers have been working so hard in the past month, by pushing through tough sets and excelling at practice with most of them practicing twice a day, multiple days per week,” Gauthier said.