by Jay Feinstein

In what may be the third to last opener of fall girls’ swimming and diving, the Tigers defeated Mount Alvernia Friday, 99-82.

A number of new swimmers and divers contributed to the Tigers’ win, according to senior Katie Wu, a captain with senior Niki Lew.

“It’s always great seeing new kids getting involved. It’s great watching their potential,” she said. “There were a lot of swimmers trying things for the first time and swimming events that they might not have expected to swim, and overall, everyone did well.”

There were many standouts in the meet, according to Wu. “Sophomore Sasha MacDonald, a diver, showed a lot of potential” because she did well for a first meet. Senior Ariana Paone and juniors Monica Kieff and Hannah Searles, also divers, were strong and placed well in the meet, she said.

In addition to diving, strengths of the team include the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, which both placed well, according to Wu.

In order to prepare for meets, the Tigers run and swim during practices. Due to the large team and limited pool space, the team breaks into junior varsity and varsity squads, one running dry land and one doing swimming, according to Wu.

This year, the Tigers do additional workouts with a trainer at Fusion on weekends. “They’re fantastic, but very tough,” Wu said. “We do all sorts of pushups, conditioning and strength building exercises that really help us. We get the sort of exercise that we wouldn’t normally get.”

The biggest skill the Tigers need to work on is endurance, according to Wu. “There are always individual goals like better kicking or pulling, but as a team, working on endurance will help us be able to swim more in practice,” she said. “It all adds to being a better swimmer.”
Better swimmers means more victories, she said.