Swimmers fall against W&J; face Leb Val in league opener

By Brian Bonner

Being on the road is not easy. Ask minor league baseball players, bands on tour, John Madden or anyone on the Elizabethtown College swim team what is so tiring about being on the road, and they will all reply the same.

For some reason, being in a car or a bus for an extended period of time is just a physically and mentally exhausting experience.

So when Elizabethtown took a four hour trek to Washington, Pa. (somehow its possible to drive four hours and still be in this state) to swim against Washington and Jefferson College, it’s quite understandable that they didn’t put up their best times of the year.

"The bus ride affected us because a lot of the team slept on the way there, which made us more tired than we should have been. That in turn, affected our times while competing," said sophomore Jenn Nonnemacher.

Elizabethtown was defeated by Division II power Washington and Jefferson College this past Saturday. The men’s team was swept; losing 85-65, while the Presidents also won all but one race in the women’s meet, defeating the Blue Jays 118-77. Christina Blaha was the lone winner of the meet as she continued her dominance in breastroke, winning the 200-yard breaststroke event.

Although both Elizabethtown swim teams are winless right now, they have swam against three very good teams. The swimmers are not frustrated at their losing record.There's an understanding that coach Mike Guinivan schedules this way with the overall goal of the end of the season in mind.

Nonnemacher said, "He schedules us against good teams because it challenges us at each meet. Later on in the season, this experience gives us more of an edge against teams at our own level."

The Blue Jays are looking forward to their first MAC conference meet at Lebanon Valley. They will visit the Flying Dutchmen this Tuesday, Nov. 26. They then have two more away meets at McDaniel and then will take part in the Franklin & Marshall Invitational.