Despite the pandemic, the Concordia Swim and Dive team have had a great season. The season ended with meets against St. Kate’s and Augsburg on Feb. 26 and Morris on Feb. 27.
Due to the uncertainty of the season and the ever changing information that would at times change on a daily basis, the swim team had seven members this year. These athletes, as well as their new head swimming and diving coach Anneliesse Bruns, worked through the changes in protocol to have a successful season.
Like most athletes, swimmers had to get COVID-19 tested twice a week. Additionally, they wore masks while doing training and conditioning on dry land, each swimmer had their own lane and additional protocols to try to minimize contact between athletes at meets were practiced. However, the swimming itself has remained untouched by pandemic protocols, much to the relief of the swimmers and coach.
“The extra masking and social distancing protocols have made it more difficult to do some of the fun, team bonding activities outside of the pool,” said Bruns.
However, Camille Gunderson, a sophomore swim team member, said that because of the small team and the stress they all shared they were able to get extremely close.
“We are luckier than most other teams in the MIAC conference,” said Gunderson. This is because the Concordia swim team has been able to have five meets. “A lot of other teams have only gotten one or two for the whole season and have had way more restrictions than we have had to deal with,” she added.
Normally, the swim season would end in the middle of February, but due to the late start they were able to extend their season to the end of the month. Unfortunately, the MIAC Championships were canceled. Despite that the season has been successful.
Lindsey Biebl, a sophomore swim team member, said that she was happy they were able to make it through the season without having to quarantine. Gunderson explained that she had fun throughout this season and was glad to be able to come back to swimming and finish the season.
“We have been very grateful to be able to practice fairly consistently these past two months and also have the opportunity to compete even though the MIAC Championships were canceled,” said Bruns. “It has been fun to get a few dual wins under our belts and even achieve some personal best times despite all of the obstacles.”
The swim team at Concordia is a group of hard working women who love the sport of swimming and work to positively represent Concordia College. Through uncertainty and confusion the athletes stayed strong, dedicated and were determined to have a fun and successful swim season.
“We know there are swimmers and divers currently attending Concordia who for one reason or another have not chosen to swim in college. We want them to know that it is possible to be a successful student-athlete at Concordia and we would love to meet you if the swimmer inside isn’t quite ready to hang up your cap and goggles,” said Bruns. “Also, hopefully next year spectators will be able to watch sports again and we would love to have anyone come cheer on the aqua Cobbers.”
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