The inaugural season of the William Peace University swim team has come to an end, but not without making a splash.
The Pacers opened up their first season with hopes to compete well in their meets as their first year as a team, but most importantly to build a positive team atmosphere to be the foundation of the sports time at Peace.
“Being part of the first group of swimmers at WPU was a great experience for building the foundations of the team and supporting each other throughout the season,” said WPU sophomore and women’s team captain, Mikayla Brown. “We have developed a close bond around the sport and learned a lot.”
Coach Jamie Bloom, formerly at the University of Tennessee, was announced as coach in late 2016 and came prepared with a strong game plan and with many years experience.
“I am thrilled with our overall progress and success,” Coach Bloom said. “We came together as a tight-knit united group, had lots of fun, won a meet and started a strong foundation of what will be a great team in the very near future.”
Bloom dove into the recruiting position and ended up bringing in a strong first class of Pacers who were ready to compete.
They accomplished many goals with multiple swimmers earning first place finishes in individual races and pure strength of will. After all, it’s not easy jumping into a pool at 6 o’clock in the morning in December.
The first dives of their season took place at Roanoke College. Both teams competed hard and the men just narrowly lost after swimming 20 overall events and coming in first overall, out of five teams.
This would be the first of many close meets as the team competed against schools all across the USA South and the neighboring conferences.
The Pacer’s swim team proved they were learning a lot as the men’s team took home the first win against Ferrum College on Jan. 20.
A score of 106-67 led Peace to ring the victory bell as they brought home ten first place and one second place victories. This was the first win in program history and a big boost to finish the season strong.
The final meet of the 2017-2018 season took place over multiple days as the men’s team swam their hardest against a tough line up of universities in the Carolina Cup.
The Pacers would fall to some of the best teams in the country such as, UNC-Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins, and Duke, but still multiple Peace swimmers would shave seconds off their times in many events.
Now the team enters the off season, but never fully leaves the pool as Coach Bloom sets out to find the next class of swimmers with eyes set on growth, in and out of the pool.