As both the Men’s and Women’s swimming teams wrap up their third season of competition, there is many successes to review and vast strides to admire.

Men’s swim team finished their regular season with a record of 5-8 overall, and 2-5 in the Middle Atlantic Conference. While the Women’s swim team finished their regular season with a 3-12 record and held a 0-7 record in the Middle Atlantic Conference.

The Wilkes University teams have both seen growth and improvements in their programs since their start three seasons ago.

Christopher Bright, a three-year swimmer here at Wilkes, spoke on the team’s improvements he has seen, “However, we have a coach who works with everyone very well and is always willing to help however he can with any problems team members have. Each year is a chance to bring in a few more swimmers that are crucial for not only improving the performance of the team, but also for creating a base with our current members that can be carried in to the future.”

As a newer program at the college level, recruiting becomes a challenge, Bright noted, “New programs can be difficult to find success with as you have a mixture of old and new swimmers with varying experience and backgrounds all joining the team at the same time.”

It become essential for each athlete to set their own goals, depending on their level at the time they started competing. While some of swimming is based off of individual performances, all of the competitors contribute to the teams end results throughout the season.

In recent meets both teams have seen huge successes in their relay teams victories.

Against King’s College, on Jan. 28, the men’s team had one of their relay teams finish first in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:56.87 and another finish third in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:50.63.

The Women’s swim team also performed exceptionally well in the relays they competed in at King’s College. The Lady Colonel’s won the 400 meter freestyle relay with a time of 5:03.05. Another women’s relay team, finished second in the 200 meter medley relay finishing with in 2:02.30.

These placements of the relays in the conclusions of the season, not only show the successes and hard work of the individuals competing but the team work that must be put into this sport and especially these events. These strong times show the overall improvement of a strong-willed team in a short time.

When asked what this teams greatest strength was, team leader, Bright, said quickly, “Perseverance. There are always struggles with any sports team but our swimmers have shown tremendous perseverance over the course of the season in an effort to achieve personal and team goals.

These two teams, work off of each other and continue to push forward and grow as the program develops in years to come. Each athlete expects to see vast strides made in the next couple years. The recruitment process will become easier as well as gain athletes from a wider area span, as well as the experienced swimmers are able to gain more collegiate competition both in and out of the Middle Atlantic Conference.

We wish both swim teams best of luck in the MAC Championships.