In what is considered to be the unofficial start to Laf-Lehigh weekend, the swimming team hosted the Mountain Hawks on Nov. 18 and, despite losing, there were several encouraging individual victories.

While the rivalry remains as old as ever, the pool was not, as the Leopards competed in the newly renovated Weinstein Natatorium for the first time. This provided a nice boost, according to junior Sam Haines.

“We were excited to host the Laf-Lehigh swim meet and show off the new pool,” said Haines.

The new energy of the pool certainly helped swimmers like Haines, who took the 100 & 200 butterfly with Junior Alex Schon coming in right behind him finishing second.

Haines attributed much of this success to the teams off-season workouts.

“A big goal of mine during the off-season was to make some significant strength gains in the weight-room,” Haines said. “This has transferred well to the shorter butterfly events.”

Sophomore Weston Lickfeld has a nice showing as well capturing the 200 breast stroke.

Junior Noelle Buckley was the top performer on the women’s side. She competed fiercely, finishing second in both the 100 & 200 breaststroke. Overall, it was a great showing from the Leopards.

“A lot of our swimmers focused more on swimming best times and seeing the results from the hard training we’ve put in this season,” Haines said. “I think overall the team met expectations in the meet, and even exceeded them as the meet progressed into the latter half.”

Going forward, it is crucial for the team to remain focused through the winter interim period. As the team spends the Thanksgiving and winter breaks away from the pool, it will be easy to lose momentum due to the abrupt stops. However, if the team can build off their winter training trip during break, they will have some chances to do great things going into Patriot League competition.

“I think the guys team is looking to break a few team records as well as improve our standing overall in the league by beating some key schools like Colgate and Loyola,” Haines said.

Next up, the Leopards will head to West Point to take on Army and Colgate in January.