BY MYRRIAH GOSSETT
Name: Stephanie McNicol
Age: 19
Class: Second-Year
Major: Visual Effects
Hometown: Parker, Colo.
Position: Distance Freestyle, 4×400-Yard Freestyle Relay
The first weekend of March marked the finale for the SCAD swim team as they competed at the NAIA Swimming National Tournament. Soon after McNicol had finished swimming her leg in the 400-meter freestyle relay the SCAD women’s swimming was announced the winners.
This first-time win knocked the crown from the four-time defending champions California Baptist University.
Next came the announcements for the individual awards. Outstanding Swimmer of the Year was given to Stephanie McNicol.
“The team was pretty excited, not too many people thought I would win it. We thought it would be someone else. They were all cheering and hugging me,” McNicol said.
McNicol swims the 1,650-yard freestyle, the equivalent of a mile.
“It’s my favorite race. A lot of people get nervous but I get really excited. It’s just one of those events that I excel at. I just get excited, and it doesn’t hurt as much as the 50 [yard] free, while some people might disagree,” McNicol said.
After months of hard training, McNicol won all three of her individual events: the 1,650-yard, the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyles. Along with winning the 1,650-yard, she also broke the school record with a time of 16:48.91. She was also a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay. McNicol was told she would be a part of the relay team at the meet.
“I was so excited. I definitely get more pumped up for relays,” McNicol said.
The swim team had been training all year with what McNicol describes as “consistently hard practices with hard [time] intervals” from their head coach Wes Sinclair.
The difficult training paid off with the huge win for the women’s swim team. The meet as a whole was close from the beginning with only a few points separating the women’s swim team from the California Baptist Lancers.
The final score for the women’s swim team was of 691 points, with the Lancers scoring 639.5. The day was marked with wins not only for the whole team as the women’s head coach Sinclair was named Women’s Coach of the Year.
McNicol hopes the women’s swim team can repeat their success next year. The team started training in the pool last week.
“It was a great season, I couldn’t have asked for a better [one]. We can hopefully do it again next year and it will be just as exciting,” she said.