Bullets Swim Teams Collect Five Big Wins to Start the New Season
Photo courtesy of Gettysburg Athletics.
By Sydney LoPresti, Contributing Writer
The men’s and women’s swim teams started their new season off strong Saturday, October 23, defeating multiple Centennial Conference foes in the pool. The men were able to take down Dickinson by a score of 198-61 as well as Washington College, 170-91. The women pulled in the remaining three victories topping Dickinson (155-106), Washington College (157.5-103.5), and Bryn Mawr (193-68).
Veteran swimmers on the men’s side led the Bullets charge to victory. Senior Duncan Proxmire and junior Nick Cox each produced individual hat tricks in the pool, picking up where they left off after the 2020-21 season was canceled because of COVID-19. Proxmire showed off his speed, topping the competition in the 100, 200, and 500 free. Cox was able to sweep the backstroke events, taking first in the 100 and 200-meter races as well as adding another victory in the 100 fly stroke to round out his winning weekend.
Senior co-captain Oliver Pickering contributed two of the Bullets 11 victories, taking down the competition in the 200 fly, which he currently holds the school record in, as well as the 200 IM. He was also part of the winning 200 medley relay team.
Pickering reflected on the new season, discussing the changes due to the canceled season but finishing with his hopes for this new 2021-22 season. “Despite what has changed, essentially what brings us together stays the same,” He notes. “ I’m here to swim fast and I’d say the great thing about swimming is that all of my teammates are here to swim fast too.”
Luke McKenna ’24 and Cort Hobelmann ’25 rounded out the Bullets’ victory. McKenna easily out-swam the competition in the 1000 free stroke, taking the event by a margin of 24 seconds. Hobelmann added a win in the 50 free following a stellar anchor performance in the winning 200 medley relay.
The women’s charge to victory, however, was dominated by new Bullets swimmers. The five victories the team produced in the quad-meet came from first years. Lindsey Blake ’25, Olivia Pyott ’25, Hope Murray ’25, and Ava Collin ’25 swam Gettysburg to victory in the 200 medley relay, marking two wins in the event on the day by the men and women.
Blake and Pyott continued to dominate, both bringing in two more victories for the Bullets team. Blake swept the backstroke category with victories in the 100, producing the only time under one minute, and 200-meter races. Pyott was able to top the competition in the 100-meter breaststroke by nearly 2 seconds while also claiming victory in the 200-meter contest.
Co-captains Cate Kosko ’22 and Megan Wojnar ’22 had high expectations for the 17 sophomore and first-year swimmers coming into the season. They did not disappoint. Blake and Pyott’s victories were complemented by three runner-up finishes from fellow first-year Mia Yancey. Morgan Krepp ’24, Annabel Gorman ’23, Lauren Manning ’23, and Brooke Gardener ’24 each contributed runner-up performances, adding to the Bullets 20 top-three finishes.
Fans were electrified watching their teams swim for the first time in a year and a half. The Bullets hope to carry on this energy as they host Franklin and Marshall in the pool Saturday, October 30th
