2006-07 Women's Swimming Outlook

Head coach Steve Kaczmarek embarks on his third year at the helm of the Quakers’ women’s swimming team with high expectations.  He returns 11 letter winners from a team that posted a 3-6 mark 2006.  The squad set new school standards throughout the 2005-06 season, culminating with 13 school records set at the season-ending 2006 Atlantic States and Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championships in Radford, VA.  Kaczmarek wants to build on the solid foundation established during the team’s first two seasons under his guidance.

“We came in ninth out of 12 teams in the Atlantic States competition and sixth out of seven in the ODAC,” Kaczmarek said. “We finished only 11 points behind ODAC-rivals Hollins and Sweet Briar in the meet, and we were pleased with how the team improved throughout the year.  We expect to be much improved next year returning our corp of swimmers, along with the addition of new talented student-athletes.”

Guilford looks to overcome the loss of 2005-06 team Most Valuable Swimmer Dana Putney, who is sidelined for the season with an injury, and All-ODAC Lauren Truelove.  However the Quakers still return a strong group of swimmers, including Kate Talbot at butterfly and freestyle, Maddie Winters at individual medley and backstroke, Amanda Ohlert and Genevieve Holmes at freestyle, and Elena Soliz at breaststroke.  These student-athletes posted Guilford’s top-five times in 16 of the 18 individual or relay events during 2005-06.

The Quakers dive into 2006-07 with nine first-year swimmers. “Building a new program has been exciting and challenging. Now our goal is to improve and gain more leadership with each coming year,” Kaczmarek said. He points to this year’s incoming class as his strongest and deepest to date and is confident that the Quakers’ nine newcomers will add depth and push the experienced student-athletes.  The blend of talent should help the Quakers be more competitive within the ODAC.

The Quakers start preparing for 2006-07 in early September with strength training and stroke analysis, building their foundation for more strenuous training during the dual-meet season. Guilford opens the year on the road at Catawba for a relays meet, before coming home to host an ODAC tilt against Hollins.  “The meet in late October will be a great tune up before we begin our conference and dual-meet schedule,” Kaczmarek said.  Guilford travels to Lexington, Va. for a dual meet with ODAC-powers Washington and Lee and Randolph-Macon in early November.  The Quakers host dual meets with Randolph-Macon Woman’s and Greensboro in November and Sweet Briar and Catawba in January.  The season culminates with the three-day conference championship meet in mid-February.