Courtesy of Sean Elliot
Camel of the Edition is a series which seeks to highlight extraordinary Connecticut College athletes who have stood out from the herd due to their recent performances or as a leader on campus or on their team.
Claire Hoffmann ‘25 is a distance freestyle swimmer and captain on the women’s swim team who recorded the fastest times for the Camels in the 500, 1000, and 1650 yard freestyle events. Hoffman was the third leading points scorer on the Camels who are currently ranked 40th in NCAA DIII swimming. The Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey native recorded personal bests in 200, 500, 1000, and 1650 yard freestyle events throughout the season.
Recently, The College Voice caught up with Hoffman to learn about how she trains and mentally prepares herself for challenging distance freestyle events, her favorite memories during her time as a student-athlete at the College, and her plans following graduation.
Could you please introduce yourself? (Name, pronouns, hometown, grade, major/minor)
My name is Claire Hoffmann, pronouns she/her, and I am a senior from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. I’m majoring in Environmental Studies and German Studies with a minor in Botany, and I’m also in CISLA.
How did you get into sports and decide to focus on swimming in particular?
I’ve been swimming since I was very young. My mom put me on a summer swim team when I was 5, which I did for a while until I liked it enough to join a club team at my local Y when I was 11. I was on that same club team up until the summer before I got to Conn, and I swam for my high school team as well. I think swimming has just been a really good experience for me, both
in terms of me enjoying the sport itself and through the people I’ve met back on my club and high school teams and especially here at Conn.
What was your recruitment process like and how did you decide on Conn?
My recruiting experience was pretty out of the ordinary due to COVID; my class wasn’t able to have any true recruiting overnight trips because of the regulations. I was in contact with Coach [Marc] Benvenuti, who was also the head coach of the women’s team at the time, and eventually, I was able to drive up to campus and have lunch with him and my parents, as well as meet a few members of the women’s team. I really enjoyed talking with everyone and found the vibe of the team a good fit, and the Environmental Studies and Botany departments were a huge draw for me as well.
How did you end up deciding what swimming stroke/event to focus on?
I kind of fell into it, to be honest– the distance events were just what I ended up being good at. There were extremely limited opportunities to do longer events like the 1000 and the 1650 [yard freestyle] in high school, so I found myself doing the 200 and the 500 a lot. It wasn’t until I came to Conn and found that we do the 1000 at every dual meet that I really branched out into that end of distance!
You currently hold the fastest 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle times for Conn. How do you train for and race these aerobically challenging events?
Based on our event specialties, we often split up into different training groups during our practice sessions, though we do a lot of hard aerobic work sets as a full team. Distance involves a lot of endurance training and pacework, and we really rack up the yardage and intensity, especially during our winter training trip to Florida. When we taper down to prepare for NESCACs, distance always still does more yardage for longer compared to the other specialty groups, just because of the longer races we have to swim. I’ve been lucky enough to do that
training with an amazing group of teammates, and we’re able to push each other to give 100% of what we’re capable of every practice as well as support each other through tough practices.
How has this season been for you and the team?
This season has honestly been the best one I’ve had here at Conn for me personally, in terms of both my accomplishments as well as my chronic shoulder injury not being as bad this year. The season has also been truly incredible for the team; everyone was motivated and driven from the
jump during preseason, and we came into the start of the season more prepared than I’ve ever seen before. Everyone continued to give everything they had all the way up to the end of the season, and I’m incredibly proud of the team for the sheer amount of hard work, care, and dedication that we put in.
How do you prepare for your races and events? Do you have any rituals or superstitions?
What’s most important for me is to get into a good mental headspace before my events. It’s a long time to spend with yourself and your thoughts staring down at the black line at the bottom of the pool, so I’ve always tried to get at least some level of calm before my events even with the pre-race jitters. I also wear two swim caps during any distance event 500 or above, and I always need to get an extra warmup in before my races.
What is your favorite Conn swim and dive team tradition?
I’ve loved our training trips down in Florida. Even though that has been the hardest and the most I have ever (and probably will ever) worked out in my life, the bonds I’ve made with the team while in Florida are the best. As a full men’s and women’s team, we all go out to Marco Island on New Year’s Day for a beach trip, which I think is my favorite tradition. To get to Marco Island, we have to drive by the pool we swim at, and it’s always a fun moment to not have to turn in there and swim that day!
What does it mean to be a captain and a leader of the team?
Being captain has meant a lot throughout the season. It’s meant helping to onboard and integrate the freshmen into the team, to be someone people can turn to when they need help or support or have an issue, and to lead and prepare team traditions. There’s also been a lot of unseen background logistical work, organizing, and planning that I never considered before taking on this role, which has made me respect everyone who has come before me all the more.
You are entering the last semester of your time at Conn. Do you have any favorite memories or moments you will remember from your time at the College?
The senior meet was a special moment for me. Coach Mindy [Williams] gave me a lighter event load for the meet, so I was able to really enjoy the home meet atmosphere for the last time, as well as cheer for my teammates without worrying too much about my events. Coach also had all four of us seniors race the 500 together for the last time, which was a full-circle moment for all of us. Outside of the incredible time I’ve spent with my teammates, meeting a whole different set of classmates through CISLA has been valuable and I’ve loved learning about everyone’s different backgrounds and interests. Through CISLA, I was also able to complete an international internship aligning with my senior integrative project, which I did in Germany at Weingüter Kühling-Gillot & Battenfeld Spanier. Interning at a German winery was an incredible experience, both in terms of cultural immersion and hopefully setting me on my future career path.
What are your plans going forward following college?
My plans after college are flexible right now, but over the summer I will be attending the Middlebury Summer Language Schools 7-week program for German. In the late summer and early fall, I will be going up to the Finger Lakes in New York to intern at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard, where I interned two summers ago. Beyond that, I am interested in hopefully studying wine science and international wine business at a university in Germany later in the fall.
Anyone you would like to shoutout or anything else you would like to add?
I’d like to give a huge shoutout to my teammates, both on the men’s team and the women’s team. I’m so glad to have spent the past four years with such an incredible, talented, and hilarious group of people, and I look forward to keeping up with you all even after I leave.
