SEATTLE — With the start of the 2020-21 campaign quickly approaching, the Seattle U women's swim team are eager to return to the water and look forward to competing for the first time since the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships in February.
"We are ready to race again," said Redhawks head coach Craig Nisgor who begins his 10th season with Seattle U. "It's been a long and tough off-season for a lot of people, but we're very excited to get back to competing, in whatever way we can. Practices so far have been very promising, with some pleasant surprises."
Expectations this season will be a dialed back early as the team tries to regain racing condition following an unusual and limiting summer, but the overall objective to compete and get ready for the WAC Championships remains.
"One of the hardest things we're trying to overcome, is that for six months, a bunch of people didn't have access to swim elsewhere, while some others did," explained Nisgor. "So our focus right now has been on to try build ourselves back up to where we need to be as a team. Once we get going we'll have a better idea of where we stand, but we'll learn on each other in the meantime and try to get it done come end of the year."
In spite of returning 17 swimmers from last season, Nisgor's roster skews a bit more to the youthful side, with 16 of 24 names considered underclassmen.
"We might be younger than last season, but I'm not at all concerned," Nisgor stated. "We have great leaders beginning with our senior class and moving right down. Although our freshmen and seniors haven't spent as much time together as they'd like, they continue to be an incredibly close knit group which will help us when we get going."
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
The 2020-21 lineup will be headlined by an experienced senior class. Captains Emily Bakewell and Sherlyn Devadason will lead from the front, but will be supported by classmates Bryn Lasher, Allison Plamondon, Jennifer Wong and Kailey DeLozier.
Bakewell and Devadason had solid junior seasons, with Bakewell registering four times worthy of the team's season top five, including a 400 IM performance (4:33.03) during the conference meet that was second-best on the season list. Devadason meanwhile logged five times worthy of the season top 10, highlighted by a time of 57.10 in the 100 butterfly, which went was second among team leaders.
Between Lasher and Plamondon, the duo accounted for five season-best times, with Lasher claiming the 100 (55.44) and 200 fly (2:05.68), while Plamondon topped the 50 (23.68) and 100 freestyle (52.04) in addition to the 100 backstroke (59.07) charts. Wong finished last season with three season top 10 times. DeLozier missed all of last season due injury.
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Also back this season are juniors Marissa Chan and Emma McGill, who will provide support and leadership with their elder teammates.
Chan is coming off a standout season as she clocked four lifetime-best performances while at the WAC Championships. She was also a key piece to the 200 freestyle relay team that recorded the third-best time (1:35.26) in program-history.
McGill is also following a strong sophomore campaign that saw her finish the year with four career-best marks during the conference championships, including the 500 free (5:19.53), 1000 free (10:47.82), 1650 free (17:58.34) and 200 breaststroke (2:23.86).
SOPHOMORE SWAGGER
The Redhawks' nine sophomores are the team's largest contingency, and are headlined by All-WAC honorees Danika Himes and Tessa Oliver.
Himes was a three-time Second Team All-WAC honoree last season, placing sixth in the 200 breast (2:17.89), seventh in the 200 IM (2:05.69), and eighth in the 100 breast (1:03.65) during the WAC Championships; with each performance landing her fourth on the program's all-time list.
Oliver also garnered Second Team All-WAC honors a year ago, after notching an eighth-place finish in the 400 IM (4:28.88) at the WAC meet. Her performance was good for fourth-overall on the program's all-time list and followed a 200 IM time (2:08.26) that earned her eighth in the program annals.
Michaela Day, Isabella Guadiamos and Alexa Hoeper also scratched their respective names into the program's record book as freshmen. Day is among the program's top five in the 1650 free (4th, 17:30.43) and 1000 free (5th, 10:34.58), while listed eighth all-time in the 400 IM (4:33.66). Guadiamos is seventh all-time in the 200 breast (2:23.22) and 400 IM (4:33.00), while Hoeper finished last season 10th in the 1000 free (10:44.42) before logging the second-best time in team history in the 200 back (2:01.80).
Caitlin Caruso, Nikki Cooper and Audrey Dixon each registered multiple top five performances on team's season leader list, while Olivia Lautman notched five personal-best times.
FRESH FACES
Making their collegiate debut this season, Nisgor brought in a talented member freshman class, which he thinks has the potential this season to make a notable immediate impact for the team at meets and individually in the record book.
The corp of newcomers is comprised of Colorado quartet; Emilia Culberson, Manna Nelson, Kennedy Philbrick and Maggie Robben. The balance of the class meanwhile features Allie Freeman, Sarah Harman and Cassie Koester who hail from Texas, Arizona and Wisconsin, respectively.