The Linfield swimming season kicked off on Oct. 26 with the alumni swimming event, and official meets begin in a few days. The first meet of the year is at 5 p.m. on Nov. 1 in Tacoma, Wash., where the Northwest Conference teams will meet for relays.
The Linfield men’s team finished sixth in the NWC last year with the record of 2-5, and the women finished seventh with the record of 1-6. Both teams will hope to climb the ladder this season and are looking forward to placing in the top five.
The women’s team is very excited to see how offseason training has taken junior Kelcie Kimura from good to great. She was first in times on the last years teams with a 25 second 50-meter freestyle and a 53.04 100-meter freestyle. She also competed in the 200-meter freestyle (1:58.42), the 100-meter backstroke (1:06.22) and the 200-meter individual medley (2:22.03).
Another swimmer to watch this year will be sophomore Ian White, who leads the men’s team in times in five different categories, and is in the top three in five more. Perhaps his most impressive time being in the men 100-meter butterfly, where he recorded a 52.83 in last year’s NWC Championships, about three seconds faster than anyone else on the team.
Linfield’s first home meet will be 6 p.m. on Nov. 8 and they will be going up against Whitman College, followed by a meet at 1 p.m. on Nov. 9 against Whitworth University.
Drew Mahrt/Senior Sports reporter
