Swimmers make splash at OUA’s
Mike Kostoff

With the flu bug ravaging its way through campus over the last week, it looked questionable whether the men’s and women’s swim teams would be able to be competitive in last weekend’s OUA finals in Sudbury. As late as the middle of last week, several swimmers had been on their back for four days, feeling far from the competitive form they would hope to be in.

Remarkably, the men’s and women’s swimming teams persevered and capped off their best season ever with fourth place finishes overall, the highest placing ever for the teams.

"I was very impressed with our performance given the circumstances," commented Hawk head coach Dean Boles. Boles’ guidance and leadership was well-recognized by coaches around the league, who voted him OUA coach of the year for the 1998/99 season.

In the OUA championships, the Hawks racked up nine medals; the highest total in team history. In addition, by the end of the weekend, a record nine Hawk swimmers had met the CIAU qualifying standard, and will be representing Laurier in the Canadian championships taking place in Guelph from February 19-21.

The strength of this year’s women’s team was evident in their relay results last weekend. In the 4 X 50 metre medley (Robin Allen, Jenny Cramm, Lisa Parwicki, Susan Pietschmann), the 4 X 100 freestyle (Allen, Shelly Babin, Cramm, Parwicki), and the 4 X 200 free (Babin, Pavla Kazda, Dayna Patterson, Parwicki), the girls won a silver and two bronzes, respectively.

These huge relay results allowed the Hawks to storm back from a 76 point deficit after the first day of competition, to come within 26.5 points of third place Guelph.

"We really rallied together as a team and had a pretty good run at Guelph," noted Boles, who has praised the strength of the women as an overall unit from the outset of the season.

The women also enjoyed strong individual performances that served to put some points on the board.

Babin, who scored two bronze medals in the 50 and 100 metre freestyle events, earned WLU female athlete of the week honours for her efforts. Cramm notched a silver in the 50-metre fly and Dayna Patterson recorded a bronze in the 400-metre individual medley.

Other swimmers, while not earning medals, also posted very strong results. Sian Carver had a pair of final appearances, posting a 7th and 6th place result in the 100-and 200-metre backstroke events.

Nicole Semerdan and Carrie Patterson were consolation finalists in the 400 individual medley, with Semerdan also appearing in the 200 butterfly consolation final.

On the men’s side, the meet came down to the wire with the Hawks holding off Queen’s by a mere two and a half points to record the fourth place finish.

A highlight would have to be the performance of Tom Fuke who, despite battling the flu the weekend of the meet, defended his 200-metre breaststroke championship, earning his third gold medal in that event. Fuke, who also added a silver in the 100-metre breast, was named WLU male athlete of the week for his efforts.

Also earning a medal for the Hawks was Doug Browne, who brought home silver medals in the 100-and 200-metre fly, as well as the 400-metre freestyle. On the relay side, the team of Mike Thompson, John Peleck, Fuke and Browne posted a bronze medal performance in the 4 X 100 metre medley.

Like the women, several men posted strong, although not medal winning, individual performances. Mike Stelmach finished 6th in the 100-metre butterfly final, and was a consolation finalist in the 100-and 200-metre backstroke.

John Pelleck was 7th in the 200-metre individual medley and was a consolation finalist in the 100-and 200-metre freestyle. Mike Thompson had a trio of final appearances, finishing 4th, 5th and 6th, in the 200, 100 and 50-metre backstroke events.

Looking ahead to the CIAU championships, Boles is hopeful of a top 10 finish for both teams, although he acknowledged they will have their work cut out for them.

"The key will be how they manage themselves leading up to the meet," noted Boles, who stressed the importance of the continued hard work and perseverance the team has shown thus far this season.

Regardless of what happens at the CIAU’s, Boles remains extremely proud of the accomplishments of the teams this season.

"The three teams that finished above us in the OUA’s (McMaster, Toronto, and Guelph), have a lot more tradition... it’s like us with football," noted Boles, adding "this season, something started to happen… the swimmers really learned to become part of the team."

Boles expects that with the Hawks gaining prominence throughout the league, swimmers will be attracted to Laurier further build on the developing program. Indeed, the future looks bright for WLU swimming.