Georgetown men's swimming captain Brian Koh swam at the Potomac Relays last Friday. The team finished second overall. (Photo courtesy of Georgetown University)
The Georgetown swimming and diving team is dreaming big this season. Women’s captain Suzie Waller predicts that this is the year the team will finally finish with a winning record.
“This year this year it seems like a good possibility for us on both the men’s side and the women’s side,” Waller said. “It’s really exciting.”
Georgetown hasn’t had a winning season in the three years Waller has swum with the team. She is optimistic about this season, however, because of the quality of this year’s incoming freshman class. Head coach Steven Cartwright shares her enthusiasm about the 14 freshmen on the team.
“They’re going to add depth to our team this year,” Cartwright said, “so we’re certainly excited about a large freshman class that can come in and immediately contribute to our team’s success.”
Cartwright called this year’s freshmen class one of the most talented he has had in the three years that he has been a head coach at Georgetown. He said he was very excited about the team’s chances after its second-place finish at the Potomac Relays last Friday. It was the team’s highest finish ever at this event.
“If Friday was any indication of what this team has the capability of doing, I’m very impressed,” Cartwright said. “Friday was a big meet for us, and the kids swam their hearts out.”
The coach added that the meet was helpful for him and assistant coach Josh Wegrzyn because it allowed him to see the team in action before its first dual meet, against Virginia Military Institute and James Madison University, Saturday, Oct. 17. Mostly, the team needs to fine tune its techniques, Cartwright said.
“I think our main focus is certainly on the smaller things,” Cartwright said, “things like our turns, streamlines, relay, breathing patterns. We’re early on enough in the season we’re in the position to break some old habits.”
But both he and Waller agreed that the team is in a much better position at the start of the season than previously. Waller credited the improvement to a strong offseason for team members. This year, the team had to make cuts at tryouts, because they wanted only enough team members for one travel bus. So swimmers had to work extra hard in training in order to make the team.
“The cuts were a huge positive because it meant a lot of people were training in the offseason,” Waller said. “Quite a few people trained extensively this summer.”
She mentioned that sophomore Victor Lopez-Cantera, last year’s men’s most valuable player, came back stronger and faster after the summer. Lopez-Cantera was a member of the men’s 3×100 butterfly relay team that won at the Potomac Relays. Waller also mentioned freshman Samantha Kietlinski as a go-to option for the team.
“She’s very versatile in that we can put her in almost anything and she’ll win for us,” Waller said.
In addition to a winning season, Waller hopes that the Hoyas finish top eight in the Big East — last year they finished 10th — and that the team continues to flourish academically. Both the men’s and women’s teams ranked at the top of NCAA’s Division I in cumulative grade-point average.
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