Bennies hope to make a splash this season

The College of St. Benedict swim and dive team had their first meet this past Saturday against Macalester. Despite a loss, the team feels optimistic about the results of the meet. Head coach Amanda Wolvert is ecstatic about the team’s performance.

“I’m really happy with last week’s meet results. We closed the point gap from last year, and it was a back and forth meet with every race up until the last few races. The Bennies did a great job at going after every race,” Wolvert said via email.

The team was very happy with the results this past Saturday. Senior Jocie Larson was impressed with the team’s performance.

“I think everyone showed up and did what they needed to do,” Larson said.

The end score was 131-162, a 21-point improvement from last year. Senior Emi Wagner said that they can take this momentum from a great outcome to get ready for their next upcoming meet.

“Each of our athletes going to our coach and talking about what went well in our races and what’s something we should also improve on…working on those things throughout this week and…doing certain drills or even just particular sets to build up that endurance … supporting each other and encouraging each other [are what we need to do to succeed],” Wagner said.

Larson said the team has a positive attitude about their upcoming meet this Friday. After their last performance, they are optimistic about the future.

Many of the swimmers swam in different events during the meet to diversify their skills. Wolvert pushes her players to become the best that they can be, and the team finds their flexibility as a strength.

“Our coach can put us in any event, and we’ll put 110% into that race. Another strength is that everyone is very supportive of each other; there’s always someone cheering for you, which is really motivating and boosts the mood at meets,” senior Lindsay Smutka said via email.

The team works together to achieve their own personal goals and the goals of the team. Wolvert gave props to the team for their efforts this season.

“This is a very hard-working team that moves as one toward their goals. They inspire each other to work harder every day,” Wolvert said.

Wagner attributes some of their success to their mindset going into each meet.

“We’ve been very good about bringing in this positive mindset and really looking for what we can do better next time,” Wagner said.

The CSB team hopes to try for as many personal bests as possible.

“We’ve got some big goals for the season, but one of my favorites of ours is for our team to have at least 40 season best times by our end-of-semester meet in Rochester. We made a lot of progress this weekend, with some people even getting some lifetime bests,” Smutka said.

In her final year, Wagner will try to beat the school record for the 50-yard freestyle swim as well as try to improve on her other competitions.

Wagner is only tenths of a second away from the record 50-yard freestyle sprint, while Smutka is only a second off the 100-yard backstroke record. Wolvert’s goal for the team is to improve as much as they can.

“The team is looking to achieve lifetime bests for everyone, and several of them have their eyes on records they want to break this season,” Wolvert said.

The CSB swim & dive team has their next meet at home on Friday at 5 p.m.