SWIMMING MAKES A SPLASH IN FIRST SEASON
January, 2006

As the outside winter chill grips the Bryant campus, the inside of the Elizabeth and Malcolm Chace Athletic Center has warmed up for Bryant’s newest varsity sports team:  men’s and women’s swimming.

Since the opening of the Chace Athletic Center nearly five years ago, the six-lane pool had stood relatively dormant aside from the occasional morning laps by students, faculty and staff.  Things would quickly change as the calm waters turned to waves of activity. 

Sounds from the installation of new starting blocks and a state-of-art scoreboard reverberated off the pool walls and were quickly replaced by the sounds of practice whistles and fast-paced practice sessions.  At one time, Bryant did sponsor a varsity men’s swimming program a few decades earlier, but 2005-06 marked the first season of men and women competing together as a varsity program.

Nine men and nine women dedicated themselves to early morning practices and rigorous training sessions since arriving on campus in September.  A month later, the weeks of hard work put by the student-athletes and head coach Katie Cameron finally paid off as the Bulldogs were officially welcomed with open arms at the school’s inaugural meet on the morning of Saturday, October 29.   

Hosting Roger Williams and Simon’s Rock of Massachusetts, the Bulldogs turned in a strong performance before a standing-room only crowd that filtered from the pool deck, into the lobby of the Chace Athletic Center, and up to the second-floor fitness center that provides a bird’s-eye view of the glistening pool.

“The support from the entire campus community was  just wonderful,” said Cameron before a recent practice.  “Just walking into the building and seeing student-athletes from all of the other sports teams that came to cheer for us made the event such a special moment for the entire team.”

Among the many in attendance poolside were Kati Machtley, wife of Bryant president Ron Machtley and Bryant Vice President Roger Anderson.

“Ron and Kati have been such big supporters of us right from the very start and while Ron was away from campus for our first home meet, he has stopped by several practices and has been such a big fan.”

The addition of both men’s and women’s swimming provides additional opportunities for students on campus to compete on a varsity program as coach Cameron describes the approach she and assistant coach Mike Rochette are taking in building the program from the ground up.

“We’re trying to make it swim friendly and not overwhelming at first,” said Cameron.  “Recruiting has gone very well in the early going, but we have a number of students already on campus that were already interested in trying out.”

Having students already familiar with each other, has made the transition that much easier in the early going.  Spending time together outside of practices has really formed a tight bond among the team members in just a short time.

“We may compete individually in several different events, but we have an incredible team atmosphere which is a credit to the leadership of our captains as well as coach Cameron and assistant coach Mike Rochette,” said sophomore Christa Berard ’08 (right) of Alfred, Maine.

So far this season, the Bulldogs have notched wins over Simon’s Rock and Husson College and put together strong performances at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships in New Haven in early December.  The Bryant men placed sixth with the women taking seventh.

The team will return from the holiday break in mid January to host Worcester Polytechic Institute Jan.14 and Saint Rose on Jan. 22 before closing out the season with road meets in the month of February. 

Regardless of the team’s finish this winter, the hard work and effort put forth by the athletes and coaches during this inaugural season has already set the wheels in motion for looks like a very successful future.