Swimming // IWU Vs Bethel Vs Anderson

This past Saturday, IWU's swimming teams headed over to Anderson University where they would take on the NCAA Div III Anderson Ravens and the NAIA Bethel Pilots in a tri-meet.  IWU swam much better than the previous week and ended up winning against both teams.

IWU VS Anderson - 171 to 42

IWU VS Bethel - 134-66

You can read more about the meet by clicking on the school's article, listed here.

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Since Noel and Melayna were in Terre Haute cheering on the XC teams at the state meet -- and then in Plymouth cheering on Northwood's volleyball team at semi-state, Nolan and I decided to head down to Anderson to watch Marissa swim her last "local" meet.  

It has been many many years since I have been on the campus of Anderson University and it took three tries to find the actual natatorium.  (Not necessarily our fault however, as IWU's coach sent the wrong directions twice before leading us to the right location.)  

Then once we arrived on campus, it took us a while to find the parking lot that led to the natatorium and even more time to find available parking.  Apparently the natatorium was built back in 1972 and then the campus has grown and expanded and a fitness / wellness facility was added to the front.  The teams parked in the front parking lot and came in through the bright and beautiful facility entrance, but soon found themselves going down a long hallway that just got progressively darker and smaller the closer to the pool that they got.  Marissa said that the seniors on the team warned them that they'd be swimming in a dungeon, but they really had no way to envision the "unique" look and feel of this pool.  Once again, due to the smallness of the pool and the fact that it only has six lanes, the teams wouldn't have time to warm up before their events and would cool down by only swimming a slower 25 at the end of each race.   And according to the times, it seems like the water was also pretty slow.

 Just look at that beautiful wooden ceiling.  It reminded me of an old auditorium or performance center with those wooden beams and planking.  I'm really surprised that they used wood inside of such a humid area.

Spectators had a small deck above the pool where we could watch the meet from but there was only one small section of bleachers so all of the Bethel and IWU fans squeezed into that small area while the Anderson fans knew to bring their own folding chairs.  Thankfully Nolan and I don't take up a lot of room so we squeezed into a spot close to the front of the bleachers - and then didn't move again for three hours because we were packed in like sardines.  LOL

We found Marissa right away and she was able to smile and wave to us before the teams gathered in anticipation of the meet's start.

Marissa would only swim one event during the first session and it was the very last event so she stayed busy by counting laps for the 1000 freestyle.  It was 40 lengths of the pool so it took a while...and I think she got soaked every time her teammate came to the end of the pool and did a flip turn in front of her.

When it was finally time for the 50 freestyle, Marissa would swim the second of three heats.  She won her heat and placed 2nd overall in that event.  

After the first break, she would come back and swim the individual 100 freestyle.  Again, she would swim in the 2nd of three heats and would win her heat and place 3rd overall.

Finally, she would finish off her day by swimming the third leg of the 200 freestyle "A" relay, and they would place 1st, beating both the Anderson and Bethel teams.

All in all, it was a pretty good day for Marissa and the rest of her teammates.

Now Marissa and the team will take a couple of weeks away from competition as they change up their training techniques and began to taper and prepare for their next meet which will be a three day, multi-team event at Calvin College during the first weekend in December.  It will be the biggest event of the year up to this point and they will suit up and hopefully achieve a lot of new PR's as they finish out the first half of the season.  We are also hoping that by stepping away from the competitions and only having practice and weight training for a couple of weeks, Marissa will not only have the chance to rest her shoulder a bit more, but maybe she can actually come home a time or two.  (Fingers crossed).

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After the meet, Nolan and I went down to the hallway where we were able to meet up with Marissa and a couple of her teammates.  We talked for a short while and then they loaded up on the buses and headed back to campus.  Nolan and I also left but not before grabbing a quick snack at McDonalds and then driving back to the campus of IWU, where we waited for Marissa to come out to our car.  Once she was ready, we were able to spend a couple of hours with her, grabbing some much needed protein for dinner and a few additional snacks to refill her depleted food supply until she comes home again.

And again, for a complete recap of the meet, you can click here to read IWU's article.

IWU Swim Vs Midway and Lindsay Wilson

Last Saturday, the IWU swim team took another trip to KY to take on Midway University and Lindsay Wilson University.  They left on Saturday morning and arrived a bit late, but in time to compete at 1:00.  The pool water was really warm and Marissa said that it was "slow" (IYKYK) and therefore, everyone swam slower times than they would have liked, but their performances were still strong on the day.  IWU would beat Midway 173-52 but would lose to Lindsay Wilson 135-111.  Marissa said that the final relay (the one she was in) would get out touched right at the wall and if they had won that event, they would have won the meet, that's how close it was.  

Another long day of traveling there... swimming... and then traveling back home.  We weren't able to make the trip so I'm thankful for Meet Mobile as it sent updates as the events happened.

Marissa would only swim two events on the day.  She finished 3rd overall in her 50 yard freestyle and although she had them in the lead through her leg of the relay, they would eventually fall into second place and barely get out touched at the wall.  Since the pool was a "slower" pool, she was still pretty happy with her overall swims.

They will take a week off and will be back in action next Saturday the 26th at Bethel University where they will take on Bethel (IN) and Aquinas (MI).  We are hoping to be able to go up to watch her compete in that one since they will be so close to home.

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You can read the school's write-up of the meet by clicking here.

IWU Swimming // IWU VS Hillsdale and Campbellsville University

 Marissa would have her second swim meet of the year on Saturday and it was the only "'home" meet of the season so Noel and I left the cross country meet as soon as Melayna finished her race and we drove straight down to the pool on IWU's campus so that we could try to watch Marissa compete.  Thankfully we got there a bit sooner than I had expected and the meet was running a little slower than we had expected so we were able to watch her compete in all three of her events.

Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to get any great pictures of her.  'Just blurry pictures from far away, but at least it gives us the general idea.

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I have never been inside the swimming area of IWU.  We were able to look through the glass windows on her visits before, but we were never inside the facility.  It is pretty small and due to the smaller size, each swimmer was only given two tickets to the meet.  (Since we thought we would be late, I had given my ticket to Tyler so he could get there earlier and watch the entire meet and then Noel used our second ticket to go inside and sit with Tyler.  Another parent saw me standing outside the facility looking through the glass and gave me one of their extra tickets so I was able to come in and sit down.  I'm thankful.)

She saw us right away after we sat down and she gave us a quick wave before going back to cheering on her teammates.

Her day would start with the 50 freestyle.  Since the coach didn't put any seed times in for them, Marissa would swim in the first heat and the third lane.  She swam a really good split, won her heat, and would finish in 3rd place for the event.  

Because there isn't a second pool for warming up and cooling down, each swimmer would finish their race and then swim a 25 yard cool down in the same lane.  Then they would climb out of the pool and wait for their next event.  

There she is... right beside the diving board.  (She hates this particular picture because she hates the way she looks in her swim cap and goggles.  LOL)

Cooling down after the race...

And then congratulating teammates after their heat!

Now she would sit (or stand alongside the pool) and wait for her next event.

She would also swim the 100 freestyle and then would lead off the first leg of the 200 freestyle relay where she touched the wall in first place and they would eventually finish 2nd.

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50 Individual Freestyle     3rd place     25.83

100 Individual Freestyle     5th place     57.09

200 Freestyle Relay     2nd place     25.97 split

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I'm not sure which event this picture was taken from, but the social media manager took this picture of Marissa and shared it on IG.  I'm thankful to have such a good picture of her since we were sitting farther away.

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Since this is the only home meet of the year, there was a tailgate dinner after the meet and the seniors were recognized.  We were able to bring in food for the carry-in and meet some of the other swimmers and parents while enjoying a great meal together.

It was so good getting to watch Marissa compete and to spend some time with her on campus.  She will be back in action with the team on Saturday traveling to KY once again and we wish her the best of luck.

IWU Swim // Lindsay Wilson Fall Frenzy

Last Friday, Marissa left for her first collegiate swim meet.  Both the men and women's teams would be traveling to Lindsey Wilson College down in KY to compete against five other colleges.  Since IWU's coach is brand new and is just trying to establish times and events for his swimmers, Marissa was slated to swim in EIGHT events over the course of the grueling two day / three session meet.  

Shortly after 11:00 a.m on Friday morning, a video was posted to the team's social media page and right away I found my favorite swimmer!

Six hours later, the team arrived at the natatorium and they immediately got off of the bus and went indoors to begin warming up.  

It didn't take me long to find Marissa in any of these pictures either.  

She is in the back right - and in this picture she is looking down and adjusting her swim cap.

On Friday evening during the first session, Marissa would swim in two relays and then the individual 50 freestyle.

200 Yard Freestyle "B" Relay     3rd Place     25.11 anchor split 

50 Yard Individual Freestyle     7th Place     26.01

400 Yard Medley "C" Relay     5th Place     56.55 anchor split

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After cooling down that first night, they would eat dinner at a steakhouse around 9 p.m. and then spend the night at an area hotel.  At 6:00 a.m. they were back up for breakfast before heading back to the natatorium to warm-up again for a second session of swimming.

During the second session, Marissa would swim three more events:

200 Yard Medley Relay     3rd Place     25.41 anchor split

200 Yard Individual Freestyle     6th Place     2:09.29

800 Yard Freestyle "C" Relay     6th Place     2:11.53 split

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After the second session was completed, the teams would eat a lunch of Subway sandwiches at the pool and then they had time to do homework or take quick naps or just spend the time together.  I think that's probably when they took quite a few of these pictures as they had about two hours to kill in between sessions.

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Finally, about 2:00 on Saturday afternoon the third and final session would begin.  By this point in the weekend, the girls were all pretty tired and just ready to be done so their times weren't the greatest, but they still gave it their all and finished out the meet strong.

There is our girl once again.  This time she's the second girl in from the left and they're cheering on their teammates during the long mile swims.

On Saturday afternoon, Marissa would swim two more events:

100 Yard Individual Freestyle     9th Place     57.66

400 Yard Freestyle "A" Relay     2nd Place     59.34 Lead-off split

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Marissa was pretty discouraged with her last two swims as she normally swims both of those events a couple of seconds faster, but she said that due to her restricted diet (restaurant food does not help her stomach) and fatigue, she just didn't have anything left.  But for the most part, she has a lot of positives to take away from the weekend and her girls' team won, so that's a plus!

Congratulations to the Lady Wildcats on winning the Fall Frenzy 2024!  

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They got back home to IWU around 1:30 in the morning on Sunday and Marissa said that the rest of Sunday was spent sleeping in and refueling on much needed calories!

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Next meet??  Saturday October 5th down at IWU.  

It's the one and only home meet of the season and the Lady Wildcats will take on Hillsdale College (MI) and Campbellsville University (TN).

Making it Official!!

IT'S OFFICIAL!

Marissa has made her decision and is headed to Indiana Wesleyan University to swim next fall.

Marissa was invited down for an overnight visit with the team a couple of weeks ago.   The initial plan was for her to swim and work out with the team during a Friday night and Saturday practice session but because Marissa is now officially in season, state athletic rules forbid her from working out with a college team.  We were nervous that this could affect her chances, but when she told the coach, the school told her that they still wanted her to come down and watch the practices and meet more of the team.  She also was able to spend the night with a couple of swimmers in their dorm and she went to a team dinner and craft night with them also.  

Before she went to bed Friday night, Marissa emailed us to tell us that they had officially offered and that it was a really good offer.  She told them that she needed time to talk it over with her family, but since IWU had been her first choice all along, we were pretty sure that she would say 'yes'.

She did email the coach later Sunday night and gave her verbal commitment and by Monday afternoon, IWU swim had made it Instagram official!!

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Within minutes, that original post was being reposted over and over by friends, family and teammates.  There were too many shares to post here, but I'll post a couple of her favorites:

And her cross country coaches would also repost the announcement on Twitter (X):

Congratulations Marissa on working hard and chasing your dreams!  As your parents, we are so proud of you and cannot wait to see where God continues to take you as you follow him.

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Where it all started -- back in the 2nd grade!!