Against expectations, Willamette’s Women’s Swimming has gotten off to a great start in this young season. Though last year’s squad came in tied for sixth and are projected to repeat that placement in the Northwest Conference (NWC) coach’s poll, the team finished first in the NWC relays and third in the sprints.
This change in performance could be attributed to an increased size of the team. Willamette has usually had one of the smaller teams in the conference, but this year their numbers are comparable to most of the competition.
Alayna Kisiday (‘25), junior captain of the swim team, explained, “We did a really good job at recruiting. … The small number of people that we did have had a lot of talent, we just lacked in the size of the team.”
The first-years have also been doing their part to help out. “We have a lot of really good freshmen that can keep up with the other girls in the conference,” Kisiday added. Even with a one point loss to PLU this past weekend, it is apparent that the Bearcats are hungry for a winning season and have assembled the squad to achieve it.
The men are also seeing their share of improvements. After having been picked at seventh by the conference’s coaches, they took fourth at the NWC relays and sprints, despite having a roster suffering from injury.
The season for swim is longer than most sports as it starts in the fall and runs through the winter. If you want to come out and watch the new and improved Women’s Swimming team, the next home meet is the weekend before Thanksgiving break. They swim at 6 p.m. that Friday night and at 11 a.m. the following Saturday. All away meets can be streamed through the Willamette website.
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