Women’s swimming and diving fluid and winning

The women’s swimming and diving team’s speedy start to the season shows that there is great potential in this year’s team.

The team’s first meet of the season took place on Oct. 9, hosted by the Army in West Point, N.Y. This meet would kick off the year in a big way as the team came away with three victories against Army, Stony Brook and Boston College.

It was the first time in school history that Vermont has ever beaten BC in the pool.

“Getting those three wins up front, especially the win against Boston College, really sets the tone,” head coach Gerry Cournoyer said. “To beat a school like Boston College that has the level of funding that they have, compared to us, really gave our girls a great amount of confidence.”

“It was really exciting; we went out there really confident this year and it was a lot of fun,” sophomore diver Lauren Colby said.

Cournoyer said that he was pleased with the team’s energy coming into a new season, and hopes to build on what the team has already been able to do.

“The difference between last year and this year is that the upperclassmen came back even more excited and fired up, so with the incoming freshman class that had been training all summer, we’re excited and our level of training is higher,” Cournoyer said.

Though the team’s schedule will remain rigorous during the next few weeks, with a meet against rival Boston University, the ladies and Cournoyer are confident that the team can rise to the challenge.

“We have a lot of momentum, especially going into Siena at home, which is always great,” junior swimmer Kate Weaver said.

“We feel good moving forward even though we have some obstacles ahead,” Cournoyer said. “Siena is a much-improved team, Boston University is the top team in the conference; it’s going to be a really tough challenge for us.”