The Connecticut College Men’s Swim Team has their eye on a NESCAC Championship this year. Traveling to Middlebury College Feb. 20 and staying there until Feb. 22 they’ll compete for the program’s first ever NESCAC Championship.
The Camels are currently ranked twentieth in the country among all Division III swimming programs. After a third place finish in last year’s NESCAC Championship, the Camels are ready to win.
Earlier in the week sophomore standouts Mason Molina and Stephen Skaperdas talked about their personal and team goals for the season, as well as some of the challenges they have faced.
“The team has had the goal, since day one, of winning the NESCAC championship. It was a goal that we all decided together and have been working towards since September,” said Molina, who holds two school records, one in the 500 free and one in the 1000 free, both of which he set in the NESCAC Championships last year.
Skaperdas, who has placed first in more than six events this season, also commented on the challenges of winning a NESCAC Championship. “The biggest challenges the team and I have faced this year are staying motivated through the grueling two-a-day practices, and keeping our heads on straight focusing on the end-of-the-year goal of winning a NESCAC Championship.”
The Camels started their season hot, despite losing last year’s star Sam Gill ’14, whom Molina spoke very highly of. “A big challenge we have faced this year was the departure of our senior captain, All-American, and national champion, Sam Gill, who graduated lasted year. The guys have stepped up big this year to help fill that gap, but replacing a guy like Sam is tough.”
Even without Gill, the Camels have shown that they are ready to win it all this year by winning their first six matches of the season. In that period they beat NESCAC opponents Middlebury, Wesleyan and Trinity, and even traveled to Naples, Florida, where they dominated Grinnel College defeating them with a score of 169.5 to 61.5.
Their hot streak ended when the Camels faced defending NESCAC Champions, the Williams College Ephs, who are currently ranked ninth in the nation among all Division III programs. The Camels have never beaten Williams before, sitting at 0-8 against the program. It is safe to say that Williams has definitely become the Camels biggest rival, as both Molina and Skaperdas commented on their pursuit to beat the Purple Cows.
“Amherst and Williams are the team’s biggest competition at the NESCAC Championships. Williams has been the reigning champs of the NESCAC for years now, so dethroning them would be amazing.” said Molina. Skaperdas, too, enjoys the competition between Williams, “After last year’s results, we are the underdogs in comparison to Williams, however, with the way we have been swimming this season it is going to be a very close meet at the NESCAC Championships.”
The loss to Williams was accompanied by two more losses against twelfth ranked Keene State College and Division I opponent Boston College. The losses were against very strong teams, and since then the Camels have performed well, placing 2nd in the Dartmouth Invitational against teams like Dartmouth, UMass-Amherst, Northeastern, UMaine and Boston College, all of which are Division I programs.
The Camels look to continue their strong performances into the NESCAC Championship and walk away with gold. Mason sums up why every swimmer wants to win, and reminds all of us why we compete in the first place.
“The most fun part of the year is swimming at the NESCAC championships. It’s great seeing everyone’s hard work pay off and swim fast. All the morning practices and grueling doubles become worth it when you see everyone swimming fast and scoring points.” •
