On Thursday, the women got started with the 200-yard freestyle relay. Mary Marvel '09, Julie Kim '08, co-captain Margaret Ramsey '07 and Piper Pettersen '07 swam to 14th place, and put Amherst on the scoreboard.
The Jeffs also scored in individual events. First-year Meaghan Stern placed 15th in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:05.21. Sophomore Brittany Sasser swam to third place in the 200-yard individual medley, while Marvel followed Stern's example and took 15th in the 50-yard freestyle.
"It's hard to describe the feeling I get when a teammate gets up on the blocks at night; I almost felt like I was swimming the event with her because I got so involved in the race," said Kim.
The women finished day one with the 400-yard medley relay. In the preliminary round, Sasser, Pettersen, Marvel and Stern were fourth. In the evening Sasser led off with an incredibly fast 55.55 backstroke and the team took a speedy second place behind Williams College. At the end of the day, Amherst was in eighth place overall, with 60 points.
Day two dawned with the 200-yard medley relay. Sasser, Pettersen, Ramsey and Stern tied for sixth in the preliminary round in 1:48.41. In the finals each woman cut a few tenths off her split to tie Williams for third.
Pettersen finished 13th in the 100-yard butterfly in 58.25. Stern broke her own 200-yard freestyle college record and was 0.12 seconds shy of the NESCAC record in 1:51.61, posting the second fastest time; she placed ninth because she was seeded in the consolation heat.
Sasser won her second 100-yard backstroke national title in as many years, breaking the national record by 0.37 seconds and finishing a full 2.38 seconds ahead of second place.
The 800-yard freestyle relay team ended the night on a thrilling note. Kim, Sasser, Ramsey and Stern swam a 7:33.61 to grab the national title. They smashed their own College record and took down Williams' conference record; just 0.23 off the national mark. That helped boost Amherst into fifth place with 164 points to end day two.
"Our relays came together and surprised everyone. To win a relay at the national level really says something about a team," said Sasser. "Standing on the podium for a relay with your teammates is definitely the most exciting way to win."
For Kim, support from the crowd added to the team's morale. "Nothing was better than actually being in the water, knowing that the whole team, family and friends were cheering," she said.
Pettersen added that she helped cheer the team on as well. "When I was watching that 800 free relay beat out Kenyon, I can easily say that it was the first time in my career I've cared more about someone else's race than my own," she said.
The final day of nationals included still more impressive Amherst swims. Sasser successfully defended her 200-yard backstroke title with a 1:59.87 win, improving her own national record and taking down the national meet record.
"I loved watching the records fall and the joy or surprise on people's faces as they looked up at the record board after finishing their races," said Kim.
Stern took third place in the 100-yard freestyle with a 52.06. "Meaghan graced the pool with her super-quick and super-smooth freestyle," said Kim. Stern's points moved Amherst just three points behind Washington University with one relay remaining. Marvel, Sasser, Kim and Stern swam a 3:30.36 to finish third in the 400-yard freestyle relay, breaking the college record Kim and Sasser helped set last year, and successfully moving Amherst into fourth place with 232 points. Emory University edged out Kenyon College, 428 to 418, for its second straight national title.
"When the six of us stepped up on the podium to accept our team award with [Head Coach] Nick [Nichols], we knew we had done something really extraordinary. It is an amazing accomplishment to win a team award at the national level," said Sasser. "This past weekend was the most amazing weekend of swimming I have ever had."
"At the end of the season it was amazing for everything to come together-I was just happy to be a part of a fourth- place national team," Stern added. "Now I'm pretty psyched to swim fast next season and go back for more."
Nichols was honored with the NCAA Div. III Swimming Coach of the Year award. "Nick truly deserves this award not only for his excellent coaching, but for the genuine care and thoughtfulness that he shows to each person on the team, not to mention the way he lights up after our fast swims," said Kim. "I am very thankful to have him as a coach."
"We had a great weekend because of [Nick] and he did it all alone," stated Pettersen. "It's impossible to really capture in words how much he deserves that recognition and how proud his whole team is of him."
"He has such a small team to work with compared to other schools, and no assistant coach," Marvel agreed, "but he still manages to get a team of only six swimmers to place fourth at nationals."
"It is an incredible honor for our coach to be recognized this way by his peers," said Sasser. "We had so much fun together and we can't wait to see what we can do next year."
NESCAC Notes
Williams had the top NESCAC finish in third with 293, behind the swimming powerhouses from Emory and Kenyon. Middlebury College placed eighth with 182 points, and Colby College was 15th.