Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Swimming and Diving Blog - Kelly Pontecorvo
3/5/2012 7:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
March 5, 2012
As many times as I looked at our practice sheet and thought Patriots was very far away, it came and went even faster than last year. Now, having experienced this meet once before, I thought I knew what to expect going into our championships, but it was a completely different meet. Last year we went in a bit timid and scared, but this year we were confident and ready to take on our competition. Dan told us numerous times throughout the year that we had put in more work and trained harder than ever before and this definitely played a major role in giving us confidence going up against our competitors.
After Patriots, we had a great group going back down to Annapolis for ECACs. We sent more girls than we have in the past and it created a great competitive atmosphere at a meet where we had not previously been very competitive. Some swam their strong events and other got to venture away from the norm, which is fun (especially for a distance swimmer!) at the end of the season. With new teams surrounding us and a goal to place in the top eight, we came out of ECACs successfully.
At the end of the season, our team had been through ups and downs. We did not compete with a full roster until after Christmas and, of course, some felt as though their times could have been faster. Despite some of these feelings, there was much success at the end of our season. We held our place in the Patriot League and basically rewrote the top-10 times list. It was a great year overall and there is much we have to show for it!
The ups and downs of the past season make it even more exciting to get back to swimming in the spring season. After a three-week break, we will be back in the pool ready to begin the next chapter in Bucknell Swimming and Diving. Olympic Trials coming up this summer presents a motivation for me to push harder than I ever have. While I do not have the times to go, seeing my teammates go to compete with the country's elite gives me the motivation to be the best swimmer I can be this next year. The new season starts now. We have to put in the work this spring and over the summer to get where we all want to be in February next year. With this idea in mind, I will take advantage of training now with few competitions as prime time to get in the best shape. It's going to be exciting to see what we can do after seeing our success this past year. The spring is just going to be a preview of what is come from us once competition in the Patriot League begins again!
