Buoyed with new recruits attracted by state-of-the-art facilities, boasting a team spirit that cannot be duplicated and armed with the will to improve, the Brown Swimming and Diving program aims for a season that is both fast and fun.
“It’s fun to go fast,” said Peter Brown, swimming and diving head coach, adding that “the goal is to get better, perform better, train better, just to get better.”
Last year, the men’s and women’s teams both finished seventh at the Ivy League Championships and multiple individuals achieved lifetime best swims and broke into Brown’s all-time, top-25 charts. The tight-knit team, coming off of its first season competing and training in the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, looks to maintain this momentum and continue to improve, said women’s co-captain Kate Dillione ’15.
“The more fun we have, the faster we’ll be,” Dillione said.
“The biggest strength of the swim team has to be how tight we are as a team. In and out of the pool, we’re always together. … We got each others’ backs,” said men’s co-captain Brian Barr ’15. This camaraderie is important for recruitment and defines the team’s identity, said Brown.
“When you come to our meets you can tell how much we actually care about each swim and who’s swimming. We’re always cheering, no matter if you’re not the fastest swimmer or you’re the fastest swimmer. Everyone matters and counts,” said co-captain Leigh Holmes ’14.
This approach seems to have worked, as the appeal of both the new facilities and team spirit brought in a freshman class that promises to be competitive, Dillione said.
“We have super fast freshmen on both the men’s and women’s side,” Dillione said.
The first-years will join standouts already on the team, including Dillione who broke Brown’s 200-meter freestyle record at the 2013 Ivy Championships. Tommy Glenn ’14 is another accomplished returning swimmer — ranking third nationally in the 100 butterfly in March and competing in both the 2013 Olympic Trials and 2013 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. But the team expects everyone to contribute in its quest to improve, Holmes said.
“You want everyone to swim as fast as they’ve ever swum,” Brown said.
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