The Syracuse men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams entered this season with lots of raw, talented freshmen sprinkled around a core of a few veteran leaders. SU hoped at some point the combination would produce a dominating performance.

It did last weekend.

The Orangemen beat Johns Hopkins (219-111), Loyola (255-80) and St. Peter’s (281-17) at the Thomas Murphy Invitational at Loyola College in Baltimore.

The Orangewomen remained undefeated (5-0), pounding the same schools 266-58, 273-60 and 281-29, respectively.

‘It was a dominating effort and a tremendous learning experience,’ SU swimming coach Lou Walker said. ‘It was a very successful meet in terms of what our goals were.’

The multi-session meet gave the SU swimmers an opportunity to compete three times throughout the weekend.

‘It was so tiring,’ freshman Kathryn Gold said. ‘The first session in the morning wasn’t so bad, but in the afternoon it was like we never left the pool.’

‘I did quite well,’ said Joey Smithey, who returned this weekend from off-season abdominal surgery. ‘But by session three, it was the mentally strong swimmers that won the races.’

The Loyola meet was scheduled to give Syracuse – specifically its freshmen – experience with the multi-session format. The same format is implemented in key upcoming meets such as the Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C., and the Big East Championships on Long Island.

‘Loyola was an excellent opportunity for us,’ Walker said. ‘The meet prepared us for the upcoming North Carolina meet and placed the freshmen in a tough, competitive situation.’

Some swimmers found the Friday afternoon session difficult, Walker said, especially after traveling for five hours.

Yet fatigue was not evident in this weekend’s performances. The women’s team was once again led by junior Elyse McDonough, who took six first-place finishes.

The men’s team was headed by Spencer Raymond, who won five events.

Many freshmen also turned in season-best performances, including Bobby Schelling and Christina Jansen. Schelling, who qualified for the Big East Championships in the 200-meter backstroke Saturday, said the team is starting to gel.

‘We’re starting to know each others’ habits,’ Schelling said, ‘and how to work off each others’ strengths and weaknesses.’

Syracuse is entering the hardest part of the season. With less than three weeks left before the prestigious Nike Cup on Nov. 21-23, the swimmers will practice hard this week.

Soon, Syracuse swimmers will taper their workouts and shave their body hair, which makes them feel like they’re swimming faster than they are.

Two weeks before the meet, Syracuse will reduce its workload to rest.

With all the work put into practice during the past 10 weeks, the swimming and diving teams are expecting strong performances at the Nike Cup.

‘We’ve come so far, and we can’t give up now,’ Jansen said. ‘We’ve worked so hard the past nine weeks, we deserve to do well and we will do well if we keep focused.’

Published on November 4, 2002 at 12:00 pm