Championship Memories Saturday: 2020 Women's Swimming and Diving Takes Back SCIAC Title
2019-20 CMS Women's Swimming and Diving SCIAC Championship Links
Recaps: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four
Photo Galleries: Action Shots, Candid Shots
Highlights: Championship Day
Full Results
It has long been an expectation of CMS women's swimming and diving recruits that they will get to experience a SCIAC Championship during their careers. After all, dating back to 1995, every senior class has won at least one, with most winning multiple titles.
After two straight close second-place finishes, the Class of 2021 was determined to get their chance to hold the championship trophy heading into their junior years.
"In my first year, I came onto a team where all we heard from upperclassmen were stories about SCIAC battles and the pride that came with the SCIAC title," said Natalia Orbach-Mandel (HMC '21). "Hearing those stories was a big motivator for us all; each year we came back fighting harder to bring back the title."
"Heading into last season, winning the SCIAC title was pretty important for me because we fell short the previous two years," said Janet Tran (CMC '21). "With my college career almost 3/4 of the way done, I wanted to experience what a title was like and to share that experience with my teammates."
At the start of the 2019-20 season, the battle for the team championship set up as a two-way race between cross-street rivals Pomona-Pitzer and CMS. Other programs had strong swimmers expected to challenge for individual titles, but the Sagehens and Athenas were the only ones with the depth to earn a substantial enough chunk of the 4000-plus points at stake at SCIACs to think legitimately about a team championship.
A year before, CMS went undefeated in SCIAC competition during the regular season, including a close 195-158 win over Pomona-Pitzer in December. A two-team regular season meet doesn't always translate to a nine-team conference meet, though, and the Sagehens were able to take their second straight league championship with a narrow 1114-1071 win in February, leaving the Athenas just 43 points shy of winning back the title.
So when the Athenas won the head-to-head battle against Pomona-Pitzer in the regular season again this past winter, everyone on the Athenas was satisfied with the win, but they all knew that there was still a long road ahead.
"My first year the Stags won the PP meet, but lost the SCIAC championship," said Allie Umemoto (Scripps '21). "Then my sophomore year the Athenas won the PP meet, but lost the SCIAC championship. Experiencing this on both sides, it showed me and the team how we can't let up after the PP meet and that SCIACs is a whole other ballgame. The win against PP in the regular season is great, but the work is not done and that was our mindset this year."
"We we were very cognizant that the dual meet victory wouldn't guarantee a SCIAC victory," said Orbach-Mandel. "We were definitely happy to win the PP dual (for me, I missed the sophomore year meet due to a broken hand, so it was actually my first PP dual meet win), but we also knew we had more work to be done every day to translate that win into a SCIAC win."
Exams and the holiday break left the Pomona-Pitzer win well in the rear-view mirror when the season resumed in early January. The Athenas kept rolling through the SCIAC schedule, looking to build towards a February peak for the four-day championships in Commerce. Tran felt that the team had learned from past experience and was ready to go once the SCIAC Championships arrived.
"The team's mindset going into SCIACs last year was a little different from the year before," she said "When we won the regular season meet two years prior, we were hopeful that the win would translate to a SCIAC title, but we acknowledged that it was possible we could still fall short. The next year, that possibility had a stronger presence in our minds since it had actually happened, and there was no doubt that PP was training just as hard across the street. Overall, I'd say that while we were a little apprehensive, we were still confident that our training, preparation, and support for one another would see us to a win."
"After coming in second the previous two years, we all came into SCIACs with a determination to win," added Umemoto. "I think it was important for me and my class to show the work and progress we have made, while using our experiences to motivate our teammates and earn the SCIAC title back for CMS."
The first day of the SCIAC Championships is a light schedule on Thursday evening with just two relays held, the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay. The five relays are often where close meets are won and lost. The first-place finisher receives 44 points and the runner-up gets 38, so that final push the wall in a tight relay can be a 12-point swing, or a 20-point swing if you include the point difference between finishing first and second in the B relay as well (20 vs. 16). Multiply that by five relays and they amount to 100 points at stake, well more than the 43 that separated the two teams in the final 2019 standings.
So when Orbach-Mandel, who anchored three CMS relays over the course of the weekend in a high-pressure role, prepared herself for the freestyle leg of the medley relay, there was a lot on her shoulders. As she jumped into the pool, there was a difference of just .03 seconds between CMS and Pomona-Pitzer after 150 yards, and the first big 12-point swing of the weekend would depend on a quick down-and-back lap. Orbach-Mandel helped set the tone for the entire weekend, swimming her leg in 23.23 to help the Athenas to a win of just .2 seconds, joining first-year Jameson Mitchum, first-year Suzanne Starzyk and junior Stephanie Lewis atop the first awards stand.
"For me, relays are the best part of any meet," said Orbach-Mandel. "Relays are the only races in swimming where we're competing alongside our teammates, rather than racing against them. I try to always get my heart rate up before my races, and nothing gets me more fired up than seeing a teammate swimming as fast as they can towards me, knowing that I'm there to bring it all home. That extra energy from my teammates fuels my relay swims and motivates me to go in hard and finish fast."
Umemoto also anchored a win for the Athenas in the B relay, with Tran contributing on the first leg, and sophomore Rachel Wander and Ava Sealander adding to the winning time of 1:44.85. That 60-50 edge in the two relays helped CMS close to within one point of the Sagehens (209-208) after the first day, which also included the previous week's diving results, where first-years Makenna Parkinson, Kimiko Adler and Karena Klinkenberg combined to provide 86 valuable points.
The second day of SCIAC Championships consists of the first three individual events (500 free, 200 IM, 50 free) taking place, along with the third relay. The 500 free was when CMS really began to assert itself, putting five swimmers (out of nine) in the finals and sweeping the podium. First-year Ella Blake, who would go on to win the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year Award, came in first, followed by first-year Gracey Hiebert and sophomore Leila El-Masri.
"There are so many moments from last year's championship that I loved," Tran said. "But my favorite would have to be watching the women's 500 free final. We had five women in the final, so the Athenas already dominated the field in both standing and number. In the end, the Athenas were able to out touch the competition and sweep the podium, just like the year before. It is always a joy to watch the distance women compete, and that race set the stage for the rest of the meet."
The 500 sweep was followed by the first dominant performance in the 200 IM by sophomore Augusta Lewis, who would capture the first of her three individual championships on her way to winning the SCIAC Swimmer of the Year honor for the second year in a row. Lewis won by almost four seconds, in SCIAC record time of 2:02.41. Sealander added a trip to the podium by coming in third in the 50 free (with Orbach-Mandel and Starzyk in fourth and fifth, and Tran earning a spot in the finals and coming in eighth).
After two days, the standings had not separated themselves much, with CMS holding a narrow 10-point lead (471-461). A four-day swim meet has a unique dynamic with the team standings very slowly having ebbs and flows based on which team dominates which event, adding to the drama. Scoreboard watching is usually a phrase that brings some scolding, as athletes lose focus on the task at hand while paying attention to things they can't control, but in a four-day meet, it's hard not to take some peeks, especially in the long gaps between races.
"I usually have a vague idea of what the standings are, but I try not to get too into details because I tend to psych myself out when I do," said Tran. "Members of the team usually keep track of how many finalists are in each event, and I just listen in on their discussions to get a sense of where we are at in terms of points for the day."
"In a four-day format, every single day matters and every single session matters," said Umemoto. "I try to take SCIACs session by session, by staying focused on my races to make sure I get my job done for the team. In the morning I am racing for a spot in the A-finals and at night I am racing to move up. I try to keep tabs on the standings during the meet to see where I stand and what I need to do as well as support my teammates in those tough races."
At the midway point, the Athenas led by only 10 points, with the third day, much like a golf tournament, setting up as "moving day" for the two teams. Day three introduces the specialty strokes, with the first backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly events taking place (100 yards), in addition to the 400 IM, the 200 free, and the 400-yard medley relay, and whichever team asserted itself would carry all the momentum into championship day.
Indeed, CMS made its move, increasing its lead from 10 points to 58 points, and giving the Athenas a big advantage going into the final day of competition.
Augusta Lewis (400 IM) and Sealander (100 fly) both set new meet records to win their races, while Mitchum won the 100 back. Blake won the 200 free for her second victory in two days, with Orbach-Mandel earning All-SCIAC with a third place finish. The Athenas actually had six of the nine finalists, with junior Christina Campbell finishing fourth, Umemoto and Hiebert tying for sixth, and El-Masri coming in ninth. Sophomore Natalie Larsen added a second place finish in the 400 IM behind Lewis, with first-year Lexi Lee also in the finals in sixth. Wander finished a close second in the 100 breast for All-SCIAC honors as well.
The third day was capped off with a strong CMS finish in the 400-yard medley relay, with the Athenas setting a new meet record. Mitchum started it out in the backstroke, followed by Augusta Lewis in the breaststroke, Sealander in the butterfly and Orbach-Mandel anchoring the win in the freestyle. Winning that race was Orbach-Mandel's favorite moment of the weekend.
"I will never forget the moment just before I dove in to anchor the 400 medley relay," she said. "I like to fly a bit under the radar, so typically having 20 people around me chanting 'Nati' would just make me jittery, but this race was different. Standing on the block, I saw Ava pulling ahead of the field and I knew that my teammates had set me up perfectly for the win, and that I was not going to let anybody catch me. It all came together into a perfect race moment."
The final day saw Pomona-Pitzer needing a big comeback, but it became pretty clear in the first couple of races that the Athenas would put the finishing touches on their win. The 1650 saw CMS sweep the podium again, with Hiebert getting her first gold, followed by Blake and Mia Syme in a 1-2-3 finish. First-year Arisa Cowe and El-Masri came in fifth and sixth to give the Athenas a whopping 80 points, with Pomona-Pitzer managing just 37, making the margin almost 100 points.
Suddenly, the championship felt within reach, and CMS was able to swim free and easy over the final few races as the reality of the looming championship started to creep in.
"I think the feeling on the last day was something I will never forget," said Umemoto. "I came in super nervous as I had a double that day, swimming both the 100 free and 200 fly. I remember finishing my fourth race of the day, the 200 fly finals, with a huge smile on my face. I thought I would be exhausted, but when Charlie came over and asked how I was feeling, I said, "I feel great." I felt the energy from the team that whole day giving me strength to swim a fifth race with the 400 freestyle relay."
CMS added more individual victories as Mitchum set a school record in the 200 back (with Campbell third), Orbach-Mandel, Tran and Umemoto represented the Class of 2021 in the 100 free with second, fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively, Augusta Lewis added the 200 breast championship which had escaped her in 2019, and Sealander took second in the 200 fly. A second-place finish in the final event, the 400 free relay, meant nothing, as CMS earned a near-100 point win (1196-1104) for the 2020 championship.
The emotions set in as the final race was finished, leaving just the podium presentation and the celebratory pool plunge. It was a mixture of happiness, satisfaction, jubilation and relief, especially for the Athenas who had been waiting for the feeling.
"The championship feeling was extremely rewarding and I am grateful to have experienced it with this CMS team," said Umemoto. "It showed how our class found a way to work through the challenges and heartbreaks and finally come out with a win. Personally, I also saw the work I did abroad and training camp to get back into shape to contribute to the team.
"For me, it was a huge relief because we had been building up to that moment for months," said Tran. "After falling short the previous two years, it felt amazing to finally achieve the goal we had been chasing since the beginning of our collegiate careers.
"It felt like everything had been made right again," said Orbach-Mandel. "Our team was really special this past year. Everyone on the team at SCIACs, whether scoring or not, was determined to make that win happen. We had worked all year for those few days: throwing new dives, pushing harder paces in practice, and growing into a unified team. It was incredibly rewarding to win with everyone there."
The biggest reward, of course, was earning their own championship stories to tell the next generations of Athenas.