Swim Cats compete in Mardi Gras Invitational

This past weekend, the Georgia College Swim Cats raced in their second event of the Spring season.

The Mardi Gras Invitational was hosted on Feb. 26 in New Orleans, by Tulane University. This is the third year that the team has competed in the event.

With more than 40 members, the squad sent their best 14 swimmers to participate in the competition.

The various events that the members participated in were relays, individual medleys and individual heats.

With a number of schools from the Southeast competing in the invitational, the Swim Cats had a strong showing in various events from some of their veteran swimmers.

Some of the events that the Swim Cats excelled in were the men’s and women’s relay teams, 50 and 100 yard backstrokes, and the 100 yard butterfly.

Carly Welch, a sophomore exercise science major, was one of the parts of the Swim Cats success. Welch, who competed in the 50 and 100 yard backstroke, came in first place in each of her heats.

“They did not keep any standings or times, but I was first in both of my races,” Welch said.

In addition, Welch was a part of the women’s relay team that placed in the top 20 of the competition.

Another member of the team that had a solid showing was the team president, Taylor Hayes. Hayes, a senior athletic training major, was able to break his personal record in the 100 yard butterfly by posting a time of 58:86 seconds.

“One of the best parts about the meet was me being able to break my personal record,” Hayes said.

The trip to New Orleans provided an opportunity for the Swim Cats to have some bonding time outside the school atmosphere.

The team had an opportunity to discover various sites around the city, to taste the food and experience the local culture.

“The trip was a good bonding experience, and a good way to get out of Milledgeville,” sophomore early education major Katie Breitenbach said.

Through the bonding time outside the meet, old members of the team were able to hang out and connect with the new and upcoming members.

Between the successes that the team had in the pool and the time that was spent getting to know each other, the team feels like it has a promising future.

“The food was good, the weather was awesome, overall, it was a good trip,” sophomore history and political science major Robin Deter said.

The next time that the Swim Cats will be in action will be at the East Coast Conference Championships, which will be hosted at Georgia Tech on April 1.

Posted by EricConnolly on Mar 3 2011. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.