On March 5, Oberlin’s swimming and diving teams returned to compete in their first virtual meet of the new year against Notre Dame College (OH), Ursuline College, and Wheeling University. The Yeowomen lost to Notre Dame 110–76, but came back to win against Ursuline 145–23 — and again when they crushed Wheeling 153–3. The Yeomen also lost to Notre Dame 157–43, but won 114–27 against Wheeling. 

College third-year Rachel Maxwell, an athlete on the women’s swimming and diving team, said that it feels great to be back in the water with her teammates after almost a year away. 

“This was the longest break I’ve taken from the sport since I started swimming competitively, so I was really nervous about being out of shape and jumping back into it,” she said. “Having teammates who are in the same position as me makes it more manageable because we’re able to navigate this readjustment together.”

In the 200-yard individual medley, four of the Yeowomen placed in the top five. College fourth-year Molly Marshall took the lead with a time of 2:25.19; College fourth-year Ellisa Lang came in third (2:34.08), and College first-years Lily Azaran (2:34.87) and Audrey Weber (2:39.17) came in fourth.

For the Yeomen, College third-year Jonathan Hupfeld took first place in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.00) after also placing second in the 200-yard I.M. (2:08.61). College third-year Richard Ellis came in second place in the 1,650-yard free in 19:04.94 while College third-year Dan Felley took third place (20:01.53). Felley also placed third in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:22.44.

Maxwell says that while adjusting to compete in virtual meets hasn’t been too big of a change for her team, finding motivation in competition is definitely something that she has had to adapt to.

“The atmosphere on deck is extremely different without another team present, which makes it challenging to get into that racing mindset,” she said. “I have to remember that I’m racing against the clock, and that I still have my teammates in the lanes next to me to help push me.”

The Oberlin teams will compete virtually again tomorrow, against Kenyon College.