CMC75 Moments: 1982 Women's Swim & Dive Places in Top 20 at First NCAA Championships
As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moment, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.
Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1982 Women's Swimming & Diving: Athenas Place in Top 20 at First NCAA Championships
The landscape of women's sports was changing in the early 1980s, as the NCAA began offering championships under its umbrella for the first time in 1981-82 (women's sports previously competed in separate championships in the AIAW). The first CMS women's team to place in an NCAA event was the 1981-82 swimming and diving team, which earned a top-20 finish by coming in 19th place at the nationals hosted by UMass Boston.
Brett Eppich led the way by earning NCAA All-America honors in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events, making her the first Athena swimmer to score individually at nationals, a milestone which would help her earn her a place in the CMS Hall of Fame. In addition, diver Ginger Gearhart earned NCAA invitations on both boards, while the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Bertha Doar, Anne Allder, Theresa Arnold and Terie Mueller earned national qualifications as well.
At the SCIAC Championships, Arnold was the champion in the 100 fly, and Allder captured the 100 free, while Eppich set a new SCIAC record in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Brett (Eppich) Beal:
Honestly, my favorite memories are when we were goofing off. Haha, no surprise there, probably. Terie and I were co-captains and we tried to have fun with the girls. I think we had t-shirts made up that said "GGFU" - "Girls Get Fired Up". I found some pictures of a day we did some sort of 'punk' dressup. Nothing like some preps/jocks trying to be SoCal Suburbia punk, haha, but we had fun.
That season was my senior year, so important on a lot of levels. Going to nationals with a team (that was, I think the first time more than one Athena went to a national meet) was great. I guess I didn't realize the significance of being the first NCAA Athena team - and that we placed Top 20 is cool! Ah, the ignorance of youth. Or at least my ignorance.
Exploring Boston, even when we had no idea what we were doing - like taking the subway when some of the team were not the most big-city or subway-savvy (I remember thinking, "What the HECK are we doing and who let us do this?!?!"). But we all got where we needed to be :). I remember getting lost when my grandfather was driving (he, my grandmother, and my parents came out for the meet) and having a Boston cop tell us to go the wrong way down a one-way street to get where we were going!
Not specific to that season, but I remember Super Bowl Sunday workouts - 100 x 100s if memory serves. Brilliant coaching move - got us the miles we needed and kept us (somewhat) out of trouble out of the pool. I also remember Mike jumping in and racing us, occasionally, to show that he was, in fact the boss, when we needed a little extra motivation. He chose his races wisely and always won :)
Overall, that was a great season. And the team was the reason I stayed at Scripps College. It gave me a home/community. Lots of good locker room talks, friends with common values that complemented our different backgrounds and academic interests, and a camaraderie with the teammates as we navigated our young adulthoods.
And I'll always remember the wise words of someone (Mike? Louie?): Just go up and back quick. Wish it were that easy, but things in life never are, are they?
Terie Mueller:
Wow, that was a long time ago. And quite a great experience. I believe that was Bev's first season with us, and the freshmen from HMC were good swimmers. What I remember most is the trip we took after the competition, out to Martha's Vineyard and then to the boys' competition, which was at some men's college.
That was almost 40 years ago ... I only really remember being nervous, the pool, and Theresa not getting carded at our celebration dinner.
1981-82 Women's Swim and Dive Roster
Head Coach: Beverly Stunden
Assistant Coach: Mike Sutton
Anne Allder (Fr., HMC)
Theresa Arnold (Fr., HMC)
Bertha Doar (So., Scripps)
Brett Eppich (Sr., Scripps)
Kathleen Garrett (So., CMC)
Virginia "Ginger" Gearhart (Jr., Scripps)
Carol "Cokey" Gilbert (Sr., Scripps)
Terie Mueller (So., CMC)
Sheri Seay (Jr., Scripps)