Rams Solve Mysteries on Senior Day

FORT COLLINS – For every senior, what comes next is the unknown.

The job market. Possibly an advanced degree. Maybe a new location. Definitely adulting.

For most swimmers, a season can get a bit repetitive. New dual, same events. Over and over. In that regard, Saturday's matchup between Colorado State's women's swimming team and the Colorado School of Mines came with a twist. The coaches brought the unknown into the mix, though the performance by the Rams came as expected in the form of a 146-88 victory, the fifth consecutive dual won by the team this season, finishing at 6-3.

The four relays contested were not on the NCAA event card. While three of the individual events were set – the 50-, 100- and 500-yard freestyles were set – the remaining six events were all a mystery. Both staffs selected their swimmers for a race prior to the meet, then pulled events out of a hat at random. When the swimmers were behind the blocks, they had no idea what was coming next.

Naturally, there was a touch of anxiety for some. There is a reason breaststrokers are breaststrokers – fable has it they are born, not created. Take some swimmers out of the normal routine, and they can look oddly enough like a fish out of water. And the Rams did it on a day when they honored six seniors.

The initial news was met with a touch of curiosity, but at the end, the overwhelming theme was it was a fun way to head into the stressful part of the campaign – the Mountain West Championships.

This was part of the fun for the coaches, seeing how some reacted to a new venture, or attacked something familiar. For CSU coach Christopher Woodard, it was interesting to see the reactions at first, then to watch the swims. Skyler Lyon was one in the 200 butterfly, but so was backstroke specialist Tess Whineray taking on the 50 breaststroke.

"It was really enjoyable to see them twist in the wind a little bit. See the anxiety, then the excitement, then maybe the anxiety again," Woodard said. "Honestly, I don't think it was those moments. It was all of them touching the wall, every swimmer, seeing the interaction between the teams. That's what you ultimately want to see, even in a heated battle, is to see the mutual respect and camaraderie and the shared experience."

There was one event none of the swimmers wanted to hear called out – the 200 butterfly. All races should hurt at the end, but it's the one which specifically does. Especially when the month of January is drawing to a close.

When it was called, White stood in the blocks in lane three, and all the senior captain could do was smile. It's part of her normal meet routine, so it was a virtual cheat code for her – she ranks 10^th in program history with her personal best time of 2:02.18. While it felt like the same old thing, it really wasn't.

"I didn't really want to hear it. I'm fine doing it. It's better than the 1,000 free," White said. "It was kind of funny that I had just done a 150 on the relay, but it was fun. Honestly, when I heard the event, my brain went, oh. We all figured we were gong to get a 200 fly or 200 breast. The breast would have been worse for me.

"The huge relief was I didn't also do the 500 free. I actually did better with the fly today than (Friday). It really was a relief today."

Two lanes down from her, the sentiment was entirely different.

Lyon would also smile, but for completely distinct reasons. In her life, the breaststroker had never competed in the race.

"I thought it was a joke. I thought I was going to get up there and the announcer was going to say it was actually a 100 fly," she said. "That didn't happen, so I thought, 'well, I guess it's the 200 fly, never done it before. I didn't swim club. I haven't done it in practice either."

When she finished – to great applause from her teammates – she gave Woodard a glance, one which was open to interpretation.

Woodard could only applaud her effort considering the circumstances. She attacked something new with a blend of shock and glee and came out better for the experience. Besides, there is something about seeing athletes be uncomfortable and come back stronger.

"I do love watching Tess swim the breaststroke. I really, really do, because she swims it in such a unique style," Woodard said. "I think you have to take your hat off to Sky. The 200 fly is one of the hardest events in the NCAA lineup, and with someone with no prep swim it, and to swim it with a smile on her face, is kind of cool."

As it played out, Lyon took White's role, swimming both the long fly as well as the 500 free – something she hasn't done since her high school tryouts. Two hard races and she found a blessing.

She took the news of it all in stride, finding the fun, and the humorous, in her events. Was she proud of her swim? No. Was she thrilled she finished? Absolutely.

"I thought, try to make it look nice. I've been told my butterfly tends to look like an age grouper sometimes. I thought, just make it look smooth. That was my plan. It helps me feel more confident. Oh, I am good at breaststroke. I might not be good at the 200 fly, but I'm good at breaststroke.

"I'm happy I didn't do breaststroke today. It was a good break. Everyone was happy with whatever they got."

In the water, Colorado State won all but one of the 13 events competed, though officially, their final two events were posted as exhibition swims with the meet well in hand.

The Rams won all three relays – the first three only involving three swimmers – all of them a crescendo or decrescendo of various distances. While Lexie Trietley won her normal 50 free event, others took turns at something different. Erin Dawson picked up a win in the 100 backstroke, leading a 1-2-3 finish with Sophia Hemingway and Trietley. Maisy Barbosa led a 1-2 finish in the 100 butterfly with Mavi Nehir Isman and the 50 fly was additionally a 1-2 finish for the team, led by Rylee O'Neil with Katie Flynn to follow.

With each expected result from a normal performer – White in the 200 fly, Ashlyn Hembree in the 100 free and Dawon in the 200 individual medley – there were fun surprises around the corner – Mia Axelman in the 50 breaststroke.

With the expected stress of the championships around the corner, White felt the alterations made to her final meet at Moby Pool were just what she, and her team, needed.

"This was amazing. You're scared, but you're also excited," White said. "I hope we start doing that more often. It's still racing, but it's a little break from the usual competition, especially with conference coming.

"We still get to race, but it's not events we are stressing about. We just get to have fun and race. That doesn't happen very often you get to race right before conference stress free."

Easier said when the mystery event isn't completely out of the repertoire.

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Players Mentioned

Mia Axelman

Maisy Barbosa

Erin Dawson

Katie Flynn

Ashlyn Hembree

Sophia Hemingway

Skyler Lyon

Mavi Nehir Isman

Rylee O'Neil

Lexie Trietley

Tess Whineray