The women's swimming and diving team wrapped up its season at the NESCAC Championships at Williams last weekend, returning to Bowdoin with seven new school records and a 10th place finish.
The women set three new individual Bowdoin records. Laurel Varnell '14 shattered the 16-year-old record for the 100-yard breakstroke with a 1:07.01. Varnell's performance clinched fourth place in the event, which was the team's top individual finish over the weekend.
"They had great performances," said head coach Brad Burnham. "Some of the records were pretty old and it was great to see them broken."
Allison Palmer '11 also rewrote the school record in the 50-yard freestyle, standing since 2005.
Allen Garner '12 took seventh place in the 50-yard backstroke finals and improving upon her own record for that event set during the preliminary round.
Four of the women's relays set new team records for the 200-yard medley relay, the 400-yard medley relay, the 400-yard freestyle relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay.
"The 800 free relay was the first time that four Bowdoin women had all gotten under two minutes in the 200-yard freestyle, so that was really exciting," said senior captain Caitlin Callahan.
Even though the women did not shine in terms of points, Burnham and Callahan were enthusiastic.
"We had tons of fast swims," said Burnham. "It's a hard meet to gauge because different things are going on for different women in each event."
Callahan emphasized that despite the team's low finish, the Bears ended their season on a positive note.
"We had some personal best times, so it's great for everyone to see all their work pay off," she said.
Meanwhile. the men's team continued to practice in preparation for this weekend's championship meet that the Polar Bears are hosting at Greason Pool.
Looking ahead to its NESCAC Championships, the men's team is optimistic.
"Everything is ready and the guys are ready to race," said Burnham.
The men will have the home pool advantage, and the team is ready to make the most of it.
"The team has been great this week. Everyone is getting their water time in and preparing to swim fast," said senior captain Roger Brothers.
The men are going into the weekend after a strong regular season that bodes well for their results in the championships.
"This is by far the strongest team in my four years here," said Brothers. "The way people have been swimming, we have a chance to beat a few teams we've struggled to beat in the past and move up in the standings. It should be an amazing weekend."