Swimcats splash into new season

The Swimcats will splash into a new season on Sept. 24.

Junior Tammi Sheppard founded the Swimcats in the fall of 2003. A freshman at the time, Tammi was upset to learn that GC&SU did not have a swimming team. This led to the birth of the Swimcats, a swimming club that competes against the clubs of other universities. The Swimcats first swam competitively in the spring of 2005.

The Swimcats competed many times this past spring. They generally have one competition every month, though at times last year, they were having competitions as often as every two weeks.

The Swimcats compete against such schools as the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and the University of Florida. The Swimcats host events here at GC&SU, and compete at other schools as well.

“Our pool is actually 1.5 feet too short, since it was built in 1943, so we can’t host many major events,” Sheppard said.

The Swimcats plan to host competitions against Miami, Ohio and the University of Florida this year.

Last year the Swimcats had only 16 active participants, so placing at major events was difficult. They did place second in the women’s division of the South-Eastern Championship last year. They were also awarded the Sports Club of the Year Award at GC&SU this past year.

There has been an enormous amount of interest in the club this year, and Sheppard hopes the size of the club will more than double.

“We have 52 new people who want to join, so we’re really looking forward to doubling our size,” Sheppard said. “If we have more people we can probably win more competitions.”

Swimcats member Alex Smith is also pleased with the increased level of interest.

“We have enough guys to have a relay this year. I’m looking forward to this,” Smith said.

Freshman Jackie Sharman has already joined the Swimcats. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun,” Sharman said. “The captains are awesome.”

It is not uncommon for students to join the Swimcats mid-way through the year. Other sports, such as soccer and baseball, tend to interfere with swimming practice, so those players don’t join until the end of their sports season.

Anyone is allowed to join the Swimcats throughout the year. No swimming experience is required, and volunteers to help at swim meets are also wanted.

To raise funds, the team will be hosting fundraisers throughout the year. Last year, the club had bake sakes and a swim-a-thon. Various families and businesses sponsor the club. The club also sells team suits, team caps, T-shirts, hoodies and other items

The Swimcats practice three days a week at the campus pool. They also have meetings at 9 p.m. on Mondays in the Maple Conference Room.

Sheppard and Smith are the co-presidents of the Swimcats. Lauren Cutrone is the Vice President. Schaefer Abercrombie is the secretary, and Aaron Platt is the treasurer.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 2 2005. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry