An unprecedented 12 Bowdoin records fell at the women's NESCAC swimming and diving championships at Wesleyan last weekend.
The Polar Bears shattered seven individual records and five relay marks on their way to a sixth-place finish, the best in program history.
Kelsey Goodwin '15 swam to three of these records while placing 10th in both the 50 fly (26.54) and 200 fly (2:08.92) and fifth in the 100 fly (58.15).
Teri Faller '15 also set multiple records, placing third in the 50 backstroke (27.06) and fifth in the 100 backstroke (58.29).
In the 500 freestyle, Katherine Foley '13 set a new benchmark with a 17th-place finish in 5:05.80.
Bowdoin's relay teams set records in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle races, as well as in the 200 and 400 medleys.
Captain Allen Garner '12 was the top Bowdoin finisher, taking second in the 200 IM while breaking the school record with a time of 2:06.58.
Garner called the record-falling frenzy "a perfect storm of everything happening how we wanted it to."
Head Coach Brad Burnham said senior leadership from Garner, along with strong first year performances, contributed to what Garner called "the fastest team I have been on."
Although Bowdoin finished with school records and a school-best result, their performance was still not enough to break into the top five of the NESCAC. Williams took first with 1,826 points, beating second place Amherst by 368.5 points. Tufts took third, while Middlebury and Bates finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The conference is considered one of the strongest in D-III swimming, with the top three teams "in a league of their own," Garner said. Williams, Amherst and Middlebury are ranked in the top 16 swimming programs in the nation.
"This was the first time we have been solidly in the middle," added Garner.
"Everyone expects to go fast, so you can't go in there and coast and expect to score points," said Burnham.
Burnham said the team controlled the factors it could, but four of the schools that finished ahead simply had more depth.
Bates, the fifth-place team, fell to Bowdoin at a duel meet earlier in the season, but the Bobcats' stellar individual performances pulled them 134.5 points ahead at NESCACs.
The regular season's grueling training regimen resulted in fast swims in the Polar Bears' taper period, the rest period before the competitive post-season.
"Seeing the moment when someone touches the wall and a smile comes across their face—when it all comes together—was exciting," said Garner.
Though most of the Polar Bears had their culminating moment of the season last weekend, Garner will likely be swimming at the national meet on March 21. She will find out today if her time was fast enough to qualify.