Oct. 19, 2005
It's been 15 years since the Fairfield University women's swimming and diving teams have strung together three winning seasons in a row, but the 2005-06 squad will be looking to do just that as they hope to improve on the identical 8-5 records that they have posted in the past two seasons. Coach Farley feels confident that the team, while lacking some depth, will be as strong or stronger in every area this year.
Distance Freestyle Seniors Kate Roche and Bridget McKeon showed tremendous improvement over the course of last season in the distance free events and Coach Farley expects that trend to continue. Add in sophomore Colleen Stranzi and the distance free should be one of the Stags' best areas. More importantly, the emergence of these three individuals frees up junior Brittany Hunter, allowing her to focus on sprint events. "Brittany is so important to this team because she is the most versatile swimmer we have," Farley said. "By getting her out of the distance events, we'll be able to use her in more events during a meet."
Butterfly Hunter, who holds 11 individual school records, has set the standard in both the 100- and 200-meter fly and will be Fairfield's main option in the fly events, along with sophomore Rachel Waldstein. "We aren't very deep at the fly, but we will be very good," Farley said. "Brittany will do well for us and Rachel had an outstanding freshman year which should continue this season."
Backstroke Fairfield should also be quite strong in the backstroke as sophomores Erin Carrather and Sarah Dent, the 200-yard and 200-meter back record holders, respectively, return to the team. The presence of freshman Kaitlyn Buckheit will also take some pressure off Carrather and Dent in the back events.
Sprints Sophomore Jennifer Masi, who holds the school record in the 50-meter free, will lead the Stags in the sprint free events. Joining Masi will be Dent and Carrather, as well as freshmen Christine Burke, Jacqueline Dunham, Jacqueline Mylorie, and Buckheit. "We will continue to be very strong in the sprint events," said Farley. "We have several experienced upperclassmen as well as the four newcomers who will give us considerable depth."
Breaststroke Sophomore Liz Lawlor will look to follow up a stellar rookie campaign that saw her set new school records in the 100- and 200-yard breast as well as the 100- and 200-meter breast. Likewise, sophomore Christine Pfeifer and freshman Emily Krawiecki should see action in the breast events. "Liz was great last year and Christine was very solid for us," said Farley. "And so far, Emily has swum some very fast times."
Individual Medley In addition to her time in the fly events, Hunter will be the Stags' first option in the IM as she is the school record holder in the 200- and 400-yard IM as well as the 200- and 400-meter IM. Pfiefer and freshman Carolyn Sheppard should also provide depth in the IM events.
Middle Freestyle The middle distance freestyle events will be handled by sophomore Kara DeBlois who showed steady improvement throughout her first season with the team.
The Divers
The women's diving team lost its top diver from last season with the graduation of Chrissie Mayr, but Coach Vener is still optimistic about the team's chances. "The women are young, but they have significant diving experience," said Vener. "They should be able to compete head-to-head with all of our regular season opponents and improve upon last year's performance at the MAAC Championships."
Leading the way for the team will be sophomores Katharine Yee and Jennifer Silvia. Yee put in a solid performance at last year's MAACs with a sixth-place finish on the one-meter and placed 13th on the three-meter board while Silvia had a 12th-place finish in both diving events. Freshman Jacqueline DeJohn will also have an opportunity to prove herself in the diving events.
