The Hopkins swim team traveled to Washington, D.C. this past weekend to compete in their first meet of the season. The meet also marked the team’s first competition since saying goodbye to their long-time coach George Kennedy last June and welcoming new head coach Sccott Armstrong.
Coach of both the men and the women for the past 31 years, George Kennedy finished up his career last season with an impressive list of accomplishments. Kennedy is a seven-time recipient of NCAA D-III Coach of the Year, he coached 31 national champions and he led the Blue Jays to a total of 48 top-10 finishes in NCAAs.
The women’s team had its first ever meet with the Georgetown University Hoyas and its first meet with the College of William & Mary Griffins since 1982. Though the Blue Jays fell to Georgetown and William & Mary on Saturday afternoon, the women had multiple impressive individual performances, including four top-three performances. Junior Courtney Cowan took second in the 200 meter freestyle, only seven tenths of a second behind first.
Cowan commented on the team’s goals going into their first meet of the season. “We have been working hard in season for a month now, and we were excited to get to race,” Cowan said. “We wanted to have fun in our first meet with our new teammates and see what Coach Scott would bring to the team. In the end, we had some fantastic races against two D-I opponents.”
Cowan also contributed to the team’s third place finish in the 400 meter freestyle relay, along with teammates freshman Michelle Wang, junior Anna Wisniewski and junior Sara Wujciak. The Blue Jays would finish the day with 66 points following the Hoyas, 176.5 points and the Griffins 196 points.
The men had an equally successful opening meet with a win over host Georgetown and a heartbreaking seven-point loss to William & Mary.
The win was Armstrong’s first career victory at his alma mater. Cowan explained that the team is looking forward to developing throughout the season alongside Coach Armstrong.
“We look forward to seeing how the team will grow under a new coach,” Cowan said. “We are focused on continuing to maintain the integrity that has always been present under Coach Kennedy.”
Senior Andy Greenhalgh led the Jays with two outstanding performances in the 500 meter and 1000 meter freestyle, both of which he won. The senior dominated his first race of the day, the 1000 meter free, almost four seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
The Blue Jays would take second, third and fourth place finishes in the 200 meter freestyle. They were guided by senior Evan Holder who placed second, only three hundredths of a second behind first place.
This was the men’s first ever meet with the Griffins and their first meeting with the Hoyas since 1969. After the win this weekend, the Blue Jays stand tied in the series with the Hoyas at 2-2.
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