Last semester’s swimming and diving championships in March have left the captains and coaching staff of RPI’s team with one question: Where do we go from here?
Captains Maureen Desi, Allison Geer, Meghan Hartman, Eric Johnson, and the Fell brothers (Ben and Pat) have had the team training since the beginning of September. The team has been pumping iron and swimming under their brand new roof. Now I am sure they won’t mind the snow coming during the winter. The team thanks those nice people responsible for the improvement.
The Red Hawk swimmers are led by Head Coach Shannon O’Brien and Assistant Coach Jennifer Mucci. Coach O’Brien and Coach Mucci are entering their seventh and fourth seasons, respectively. Last year, this duo brought the men’s team to a dramatic third place finish out of 14 teams in the state meet. The meet came down to the final 400 freestyle relay in which captain Ben Fell assured the team “I am not losing.” He proceeded to bust out the four lap anchor leg in 45.4 seconds, setting a new school record and confirming the Red Hawks’ third place finish by only a few points over rival Union College of Schenectady.
This amazing finish—the best ever in all of Coach O’Brien’s years—left her as coach of the meet, a huge honor for such a young coach. With poise and precision, she used the depth of her swimmers to their fullest while silently motivating her swimmers on the pool deck. The stellar showing at championships last year left some interesting questions for this year’s team.
With a heavily weighted team of seniors, the freshmen this year had some huge gaps to fill. Luckily for the team, this year has 15 new freshmen in the water. They have been working hard both in the pool and out to get adjusted to the intensity of the academics and athletics. Sophomore captain Pat Fell said, “Everyone has been putting 110 percent into every practice from day one, and that’s what I’m all about.” When asked about his predictions for the team this year, senior captain Eric Johnson said with a hyena-like laugh, “Eyes on the prize guys, eyes on the prize!”
As for the women, they have a very powerful and dynamic team coming back. Unlike the men, they only lost a couple seniors last year. Two of their captains are returning All-Americans. Unfortunately for them, the well-known and very frowned-upon male to female ratio at Rensselaer has left the women’s team a little short- handed. They may not have the depth of the men’s team, but they sure do have the sprit and dedication. “The women’s team here has never been a strong team in the state. However, we are planning on our best season ever. Our freshmen are strong, and our returning swimmers are busy fine-tuning and perfecting their strokes,” said junior All American captain Meghan Hartman.
Coach Maria Coomaraswamy-Falkenstein leads RPI’s Red Hawk divers. Melissa Hershey, Lindsay Carpenter, Elisa Prange, and Eric Internicola will demonstrate their experience on the boards and welcome freshman Jennifer Keyes from Delmar, NY and Jessica Pearson from Barre, MA.
Hey, wait a minute, is this RPI? A four to one girl to guy ratio. Eric sure likes those odds, but I am positive he wouldn’t mind sharing, so if you know how to dive or think you can fall off a board with grace go to the meet and introduce yourself.
For more information, the Red Hawks’ Meet Schedule, and a few funny pictures check out the Swimming and Diving web page at www.rpi.edu/dept/athletics/swim/. Hope to see all of you on Saturday.
