Swimming welcomes new coach, new start
Keri McClure
Issue date: 11/14/08 Section: Sports
The Florida Southern College swim team seems unscathed by the recent loss of their former head coach, Tom Schmelz, and the swimmers brought their best effort to the FSC pool as they continued their season in a meet against Rollins College.
Interim coach Mike Blum led the swimmers during the meet.
"He's a very good coach," junior Ashley Miller said. "He's very understanding and encouraging."
The meet was slow to start, but the swimmers were relaxed as they waited.
If the first event sets the pace for the meet, the 200-meter medley relay didn't bode well for the Mocs. The women's teams placed second and fourth, with both their A and B teams losing to the competitive Rollins teams.
The men's team lost to both of Rollins' relay teams, placing third. After the second event, the 1000-meter freestyle, it appeared as though this would again go the way of individual swimmers performing well, but with the team as a whole, coming up short.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Smith took first in this event and ended up lapping the competition. Her teammates joked afterwards, saying, "Kaitlyn's a beast!"
Freshman Malinda Turner, junior Jay Pelham, freshman Charlie Dolan and senior Caroline Kennon came out on top in their respective events, while freshmen Kelly Dorian, Kelly Ruf and Matt Bozym each took home first in two of their events.
At the completion of the meet, there were cheers on both sides of the pool, however, as Rollins beat out both the FSC men's and women's teams in overall points, but FSC cheered anyways.
There were cheers for their teammates' placements and for "One hell of a coach!" The latter was followed by applause from all the FSC swimmers.
The head coach of Rollins was also right there at the finish to voice his congratulations to the new coach and team, saying, "Think of this year compared to last year."
"The meet under new management went smoothly," Miller said. "People swam hard and fast, and we look forward to competing with Rollins in the future."
"Both the new and old swimmers swam really well," she added.
The next swim meet is the SCAD Invitational on December 5-7 in Savannah, Ga.
Interim coach Mike Blum led the swimmers during the meet.
"He's a very good coach," junior Ashley Miller said. "He's very understanding and encouraging."
The meet was slow to start, but the swimmers were relaxed as they waited.
If the first event sets the pace for the meet, the 200-meter medley relay didn't bode well for the Mocs. The women's teams placed second and fourth, with both their A and B teams losing to the competitive Rollins teams.
The men's team lost to both of Rollins' relay teams, placing third. After the second event, the 1000-meter freestyle, it appeared as though this would again go the way of individual swimmers performing well, but with the team as a whole, coming up short.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Smith took first in this event and ended up lapping the competition. Her teammates joked afterwards, saying, "Kaitlyn's a beast!"
Freshman Malinda Turner, junior Jay Pelham, freshman Charlie Dolan and senior Caroline Kennon came out on top in their respective events, while freshmen Kelly Dorian, Kelly Ruf and Matt Bozym each took home first in two of their events.
At the completion of the meet, there were cheers on both sides of the pool, however, as Rollins beat out both the FSC men's and women's teams in overall points, but FSC cheered anyways.
There were cheers for their teammates' placements and for "One hell of a coach!" The latter was followed by applause from all the FSC swimmers.
The head coach of Rollins was also right there at the finish to voice his congratulations to the new coach and team, saying, "Think of this year compared to last year."
"The meet under new management went smoothly," Miller said. "People swam hard and fast, and we look forward to competing with Rollins in the future."
"Both the new and old swimmers swam really well," she added.
The next swim meet is the SCAD Invitational on December 5-7 in Savannah, Ga.
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