(All photos courtesy of Bear Sports Photography)

Sophomore women's swimming All-American Kelly Norsworthy earned three individual All-America honors, in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, and 200 individual medley, at the NCAA Division III Championships in Minneapolis. Norsworthy set school records and came in second in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.32) and 200 breaststroke (2:18.18). She placed seventh in the 200 individual medley (1:47.05) with another school record of 2:07.84.

First-year Kelsey Potdevin, sophomore Maddie Given, and first-year Courtney Chilcote joined forces with Norsworthy to earn honorable mention All-America honors by taking ninth in the 200 medley relay at the nationals. Earlier Norsworthy won two league titles and helped the Mules finish in sixth place at the NESCAC meet, where Potdevin won the league title in the 50 backstroke. The same 200 medley relay team placed second at the NESCAC meet.

The Mules had a 9-3 dual meet record for head coach Tom Burton. Colby finished 15th at the national meet and has had top 20 finishes there in each of the past three years.

With All-Americans Kelly Norsworthy, Beth Foxwell, Meg Vallaly, and Lilli Higgins returning to lead the way, the Mules should be in position to have another successful season at both the conference and national levels in 2005-06.

Norsworthy, the team's high point winner in 2005, will anchor the Mules' strong breaststroke contingent, which also includes All-American Annie Muir '07. Foxwell, a captain, had her best season in 2005 and returns as the anchor of the sprint and backstroke groups. She will be joined by standouts Jocelyn Burke '08 and Kristi Boman'08. Vallaly and Higgins will handle the middle distance freestyle events while Weather Potdevin '07 and Sam Rose '08 will lead the distance group.

Maddie Given '08 and Mary Warlaumont '07 will lead a youthful group of young flyers.

The men's success at the conference and national levels should continue in the 2005-06 season. Led by All-American backstroker Jabez Dewey and All-NESCAC freestyler Evan Mullin, the team will gain in depth and talent from the Class of 2009.

With the graduation of Tom Ireland, the team will turn to Jared Adler '08 to anchor the sprint freestyle event and will rely on the versatility of Mitch Bartkiewicz '07 to replace Justin Dubois. Ryan Adams '06 and Andrew Peterson '08, both finalists in 2005, will anchor the developing fly core.

Men's swimming had its best finish ever at the NESCAC meet, where the Mules took fifth place. The team had no individual champions at the league meet, but had consistent finishes throughout the three-day event. Junior Jabez Dewey, who earned a trip to compete in the NCAA meet in mid-March, placed second in the 50 backstroke and was fourth in the 100 backstroke at the league meet, where sophomore Evan Mullin placed fifth in the 200 freestyle. Colby had a 7-4 dual meet record during the regular season.

2005-06 Season Preview

Jabez Dewey earned honorable mention All-America honors after taking 11th in the 100 backstroke at the NCAA Division III Championships. Dewey earned NESCAC All-Conference honors for finishing in third place in the 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke at the league meet.

Dewey helped Colby finish in seventh place out of 11 teams, an improvement over last year.

Tom Ireland also earned NESCAC league honors after winning the 50 freestyle. He also placed fourth in the 100 freestyle event.

First-year swimmer Evan Mullin also earned conference honors in his first season while racing in the 200 freestyle.

Justin Dubois, Ireland and Dan Seifert each earned NESCAC Winter All-Academic honors.

In the pool, team members are asked to become better athletes by improving their ability to manipulate their environment, both physically and mentally. Team members are encouraged to train year-round, with the season running from November 1 through mid-March. Conditioning, strength training, core strength and flexibility, technique development, and nutrition provide the focus for training design. The season is divided into five sections, each focusing on a specific goal of physiological development. The first two phases focus on technique, endurance, and core strength. The third stage is both athlete- and race-specific and includes intense threshold training. Upon the conclusion of the annual Florida training trip, the team enters the fourth phase and focuses on specific speed with a balance of aerobic training. Rest, recovery, and race preparation are the mainstays of the final stage as the team tapers for the NESCACs at the end of February and the NCAAs in mid-March.

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