University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Catching Up with Women's Swimming: Winter Training
12.17.2015 | Women's Swimming & Diving
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville women's swimming team looks to finish their season strong with the help of a large group of promising freshmen and experienced returners. The Bulldogs are hopeful for a high finish in their CCSA Conference Championship this February.
Featuring a full roster of 27 swimmers for the first time in school history, the Bulldogs have significant depth as they continue to build their young program. Their numbers are built on the foundation of a 12-member freshmen group that makes up nearly half of this year's squad. This 2015 class is the largest signing class since the program was created four year ago.
“Having a full squad is really important because it gives us more of an opportunity for racing each other in practice. We can simulate meets a little bit better, and it gives us more of an opportunity for more high-caliber racing. We're no longer running into the problem where our top swimmers don't have anyone to race in practice,” said Head Coach Elizabeth Lykins.
Asheville's newcomers have already started making an impact on the 2015-16 season. Freshman Morgan Rulevich has claimed a team-high seven event wins. She has also achieved three individual team records in the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard freestyle and 200 yard Individual Medley.
“We started off this season with our Blue and White Intersquad meet. It's the first time that we've ever done that, and I was really impressed with the freshmen. They definitely came to race, and that was really nice for us as a coaching staff to see. The returners came back in really good shape for the most part, so overall we were looking really good at the first of the season,” said Assistant Coach Rebecca Westfall.
The Bulldogs' two seniors, Galen Broido and Alessandra Troncoso, started as freshmen in the program's first year, and will be the first two swimmers to graduate as seniors who competed for four years. These seniors hold six individual Asheville records between the two of them.
Within the CCSA, Broido ranks sixth in the 1650 yard freestyle (17:13.96), ninth in the 500 yard freestyle (5:01.82) and 10th in the 1000 yard freestyle (10:35.53).
The Bulldogs are in the midst of a six week break from competition that spans from the Georgia Tech Invitational on November 19 until they host Georgia Southern at home on January 9.
“The week before Thanksgiving we attended the Georgia Tech Invitational, and for us it was really more of a benchmark competition to see how our training was going. We wanted to see what we needed to work on, and if we needed to make any mid-season adjustments going forward. It showed that we are definitely in the right place, and that all of the pieces are starting to come together,” said Westfall.
With 20 of the 27 swimmers being underclassmen, Asheville is using this break to refine individual skills and continue to grow as a team.
“The freshmen are starting to be folded into the pack. We are really becoming one team, which is nice to see. Now, we are looking forward to conference, and I think it's only going to get better from here,” said Westfall.
Next Up
Asheville will host Georgia Southern on Saturday, January 9 at 11:00 a.m. in the Justice Center Pool. The CCSA matchup will be their fifth head-to-head meet this season.
