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Ole Swimmers Travel to Florida

Katie Buecksler
January 9, 2001

On the morning of December 26, thirty swimmers, six divers, two coaches and their wives, along with the newest member of the family, baby Cully arrived at the airport to catch their flight to Fort Lauderdale in order to make St. Olaf?s 16th annual training trip to Florida. Every year this trip gives the team an opportunity to have a great bonding experience whether it is making it through the tough two a day practices, or relaxing on the beach and playing cards in between practices. According to coach Bob Hauck, "the bond that is created on this trip is very special and helps to make a unique team atmosphere that is much needed going into the championship meet."

Upon their arrival, the team became situated in their hotel and headed for their first practice at the International Swimming Hall of Fame Pool. Over the coarse of the trip, the Ole team had two practices per day. The swimmers swam in a long course pool (50 meters) for morning practices and worked on their endurance. The evening sessions were held in the diving well which is a short course pool (25 yards) to work on sprinting. This pool that the divers called home, proved to be a challenge for the swimmers because of the jets causing a strong current. This three pool training facility was the site for the 65th annual Swimming Forum in which 53 teams participated. On Sunday, December 31, 2000 the pool hosted the annual swim meet for all of the teams training. Teams from all three college divisions were present at the meet. The Oles raced against swimmers from all three divisions; however, the scores and places were separated. Division I scores and places were kept track of separately, while the division II and III schools were combined. Over all the Ole women placed 3rd out of the division II and III schools with a total of 77 points. Outscoring them were Williams with 125 points and Middlebury College with 100 points. The Ole men finished in 1st place with a total of 110 points. Williams was 2nd with 89 points and Tufts University was 3rd with 75 points. Coach Hauck said, "The meet is a highlight for all of the teams participating in the swimming and diving forum. It was great to see that we could beat some of the top teams in the country."

On the men?s side the 200 meter medley relay team of Jake Hvistendahl (FY, Minnetonka, MN), Eric Palmer (FY, Roseville, MN), Adam Garrett (FY, Cannon Falls, MN) and Lee Thomsen (FY, El Cajon, CA) finished in 1st place with a time of 1:55.77. Mark Lykins (SR, Nisswa, MN), Eric Kubat (SR, West Des Moines, IA) and Garrett swam their way to a 2nd place finish in the 150 meter butterfly relay coming in with a time of 1:23.60. The Ole men captured another 1st place finish in the 150 meter backstroke relay with a time of 1:27.77. The members of the 150 meter backstroke relay were Chris Anderson (SR, Edina, MN), Kubat, and Hvistendahl. The 150 meter breaststroke team of Ryan Lussenden (JR, Morris, MN), Chris Jacobsen (JR, St. Paul, MN) and Palmer captured yet another 1st place finish with a time of 1:43.20.

The Ole women showed their strengths in the meet as well. The 200 meter medley relay team of Chrissy Soule (SR, Mound, MN), Anna Guenther (SO, Minneapolis, MN), Sonia Karimi (SO, Rochester, MN) and Liz Hathaway (FY, Lincoln, NE) finished in a time of 2:14.05 to take 2nd place honors. Ellen Prange (SR, Madison, WI), Emily Taylor (SR, Edina, MN) and Katie Buecksler (SO, Owatonna, MN) swam their way to a 3rd place finish in the 150 meter butterfly relay with a time of 1:37.31. The 150 meter backstroke relay team of Emily Bendson (SO, Edina, MN), Soule, and Hathaway came in with a time of 1:43.03 and captured 3rd place. The female breastrokers continued to show their depth on their way to a 2nd place finish in the 150 meter breaststroke relay- they swam the race in a time of 1:54.85.

All in all, the meet was a success for the Ole team. One of the biggest highlights for the team was seeing the dedication of Coach Bob Hauck and team manager Eric Maland. These two entered themselves into the meet, and competed in the 50 meter freestyle. Bob chose to swim his 50 meters doing the butterfly, which lead him to a great finish in the 50 meter coaches swim. Manager Maland proved his swimming abilities by winning the 1st heat of the men?s 50 meter freestyle. Their participation definitely added some excitement to the day for the Ole team. Even though the weather conditions were abnormally cold, the Ole team made the best of the situation and had a great team experience.

Contact Kurt Anderson at 507-786-3315 or anderk@stolaf.edu.