San José State women’s swimming and diving team competed in the Mountain West swimming and diving championship at the University of Houston’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium on Feb. 18 through Feb. 21.
The Spartans broke three team records with senior Ela Freiman, freshman Lillie Grover and freshman Genevieve George securing All-Mountain West recognition.
Freiman lowered her own school record in the 200 Individual Medley (IM) to 1:58.99, grabbing fourth overall and securing an A cut for the College Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Invitational Championship.
Grover snagged A cuts for the CSCAA meet in both the 100 and 200 butterfly with best times in both events.
Freiman also took eighth in the 400-yard IM, while George snagged seventh in the 200-yard IM.
Junior Vilma Lindberg added to the record fun with the best 50 breaststroke time in program history in the first half of her 100-yard breaststroke.
SJSU head coach Sage Hopkins said that they were very happy with the results of the meet.
“We were really, really happy with it,” Hopkins said. “The team’s done a tremendous job this year right from day one back in the middle of August. They’ve really prepared themselves well, and we were really happy.”
Hopkins said there were great performances across the board.
“This was my 21st season here and I can say that this was among probably the tightest teams I’ve ever coached,” Hopkins said.
Through their team spirit and strong bonds, they started off the meet with a bang in the first relay event.
The relay team of George, Lindberg, Grover and Dalton Sickon broke their school record in the 400-yard medley relay with a new time of 3:38.91.
Lindberg’s 1:01.12 breaststroke split, Grover’s 52.49 butterfly split and Sickon’s 50.00 were all personal-best relay splits.
Hopkins said that it was a challenge to put relays together because they had so many swimmers with equivalent high-level speed.
“They really just gelled, a very competitive group in a positive way,” Hopkins said.
George competed in her first Mountain West championship meet and started strong on day one of the four-day meet.
She was the leadoff leg of the record setting relay to go along with her seventh-place finish in the 200-yard IM.
“The competition was really big, there was a lot of really good swimmers, but it was a really good experience and I had a lot of fun,” George said. “It was really good to push myself.”
The Spartans sprint group has shone this year with versatile speed among all four strokes creating a high-powered medley relay team.
George, Lindberg, Grover and Sickon represented SJSU in both the 200 and 400-yard medley relays.
“I think everybody was just super excited because this whole year those medley relays in particular have been doing really well and as a team, us four were really competitive and we always push each other and cheer loud on the relay,” George said. “So it was super fun to do it especially with them.”
The Spartans added three more relays to the top 10 in the SJSU all-time record books, with the 200 free relay sliding into third, the 200 medley relay ranked sixth and the 400 free relay ninth all time.
Sickon anchored the 200-yard medley relay with her own personal-best relay split of 22.17.
“It was really good. That was my third or fourth 50 free of the meet and every single one I was improving,” Sickon said. “I think I just really figured out how to swim it and just went for it. It’s really fun when you’re swimming for your team.”
Sickon said that it is really fun for her to be on the anchor leg for her relays and close out races.
She mentioned that racing next to Grand Canyon University in the 400-yard medley helped push her as it was neck and neck going into her leg.
“It’s really fun because you’re standing up on the block and your team is just cheering for you, like, right there,” Sickon said. “You know, they already swim their fastest for you and you just gotta pull it together.”
She added personal bests in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle races, finally breaking the 23-second barrier in the 50 freestyle.
“I’ve been chasing that time for probably five years. Fifty free is really frustrating sometimes because it’s just so short and if you mess one little thing up, it’s kind of over,” Sickon said. “Even though I finally accomplished that goal, I still feel like I’m not done. I still feel like I have so much more in me.”
The Spartans will send 11 swimmers to the CSCAA National Invitational Championships at the Florida Aquatics Swimming and Training Facility in Ocala, Florida from March 12 to 14.
