After one day of the Big Ten championships, the No. 16 Northwestern women’s swimming team has only begun to get its feet wet.
The Wildcats are in a tie for sixth place after competing in two relays Wednesday, the 200-yard medley and the 800 freestyle, at Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Mich.
NU head coach Jimmy Tierney said his team, one of six ranked squads competing, was excited and nervous for the meet, which is spread out over an extra day this year in a new four-day format.
In the 200 medley relay, NU shaved a second off its best time of the season, finishing sixth with a 1:42.93 B-cut time.
Susie Sample led off the race for the Cats, followed by Katie Simmons, Carmen Cosgrove and Lauren Moore.
The Cats placed fifth in the 800 free relay, falling just short of their goal to break the NU school record in the event.
Although the team’s 7:20.61 time was more than four seconds faster than its previous season-best, the Cats were disappointed.
“Everyone on the team swam hard, but we didn’t quite make it,” Swenson said.
Vicky West, Merritt Adams and Simmons joined Swenson in the fifth-place relay.
No. 17 Wisconsin, which is in first place after the Wednesday competition, broke the meet record in the 800 free relay by more than two seconds with a 7:14.60.
The two teams finishing directly ahead of NU were in the other heat, and Tierney said the Cats might have finished higher if they had swum next to these close competitors.
“Certainly not an awesome start for us, but there were some good swims,” Tierney said. “We’ll just build on that and see what happens.”
Tierney said NU’s 800 relay time, which qualified for the B cuts, would probably not be good enough for the final NCAA cuts.
At the NCAA championships, swimmers can race in events in which they swam B cuts if they qualify in another event. And Tierney said he intends to use qualifying swimmers for relays.
“Whatever we’ve got, we’ll put together any relays with a chance to score,” Tierney said.
The remainder of Big Tens will give the Cats a good chance to qualify more swimmers for the NCAA meet March 21-23 in Austin, Texas. So far two NU swimmers – junior Carmen Cosgrove and Rachel Johnson – have clinched berths.
Cosgrove has the fastest Big Ten time this season in the 100 butterfly, entering the weekend with her NCAA-qualifying time of 54.21.
Johnson secured a spot earlier this season in the 200 fly and leads the conference with a 1:59.56 mark.
NU has finished the Big Ten championships no lower than fourth place since 1988, so its current standing is disappointing.
“We definitely want to move up,” Swenson said. “We’re not content to stay at the place we are now.”
Defending conference champion Michigan is looking to move up from second place and take what could be its 14th Big Ten title in 16 years.
Today NU will compete in two relays, three individual swimming events and one diving event.
Although the Cats did not get off to an optimal start, Swenson said the team’s attitude and preparation will allow the Cats to move up.
“Everyone’s in really high spirits,” Swenson said.
