NU swim teams look for bigger crowds

By Tom Holmes
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Steve Looke, the head coach for the Norwich Swim Team for the last 23 years, is head of one of the most successful, yet quiet, sports programs at the university. The swim team has never received the kind of publicity that the hockey or football team have. That is to be expected in a state like Vermont. There are a few key factors as to why swimming is so neglected among college sports here at Norwich and at other schools in the area.

"There's not an interest from the Vermont community in swimming," Looke said. "With no high school swimming, there's not a fan base in the state."

Including Norwich, there are only four colleges in the state, Middlebury, UVM and St. Michael's, that have swim teams.

"It's not a very easy spectator sport," said Sarah Beal, 20, a sports medicine major and captain of the women's swim team from Harpswell, M.N. "You have to know what you're doing to know what's going on. It's hard to get involved in."

Although most team coaches would like to have a large fan base for their teams, Looke considers it a non-issue.

"What's important to me is a chance to compete," Looke said. "If someone's watching, that's great. If someone's not watching, to me, it doesn't make a difference."

On certain occasions in the sport of swimming, a large crowd at a meet may not be the best thing for a racer. "It's a very mental sport," Beal said. "Sometimes, having a lot of spectators may make it harder."

Spectators or no spectators, the Norwich Swim Team is successful. Last year, the men's team was runner-up and the women's team got fourth place at the New England Championships, where the team competes each year. They achieved second place while at a disadvantage in numbers, according to Looke.

"We had some very strong swimmers, but we had absolutely no depth."

"Traditionally, the men's team has been very strong," Looke said. "We've always struggled with numbers here for the women's team."

The women's team, while small, is able to be competitive and successful, as well. They compete each year at the Great Northeastern Athletic Conference (GNAC), where they have won two of the last three years.

Each year, the women's team has to overcome the obstacle of having a smaller female population than that of most other schools, according to Beal. Their record has shown that they have been able to meet the challenge.

Though the team is young this year, with John Moore, a sophomore, and Beal, a junior, as the team captains, they have been able to increase their numbers significantly.

"It looks like there's going to be somewhere around twelve to fourteen freshmen on the men's team and about six freshmen on women's," Looke said.

These new swimmers are being trained hard and well for the New England meet, which takes place in late February. Between now and then they will compete in several meets and competitions, which are not the focus of the season. They are used for training. The team has five two-hour mandatory practices each week at four o'clock in the afternoon and three practices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at five thirty in the morning. Their training includes weight lifting, plyometrics and, of course, many laps in the pool.

The freshmen that are new to the team are not new to the sport. Some of them bring with them years of experience.

"We've got several very talented freshmen on both teams that are going to make a big difference," Looke said. "We'll be quite good again this year."

"They are very dedicated and definitely work hard," said Kristi Orecehio, the new assistant head coach. "We have a wide range of skill."

Orecehio swam for the University of Vermont and graduated only a year and a half ago. According to Looke, she has been a key factor in the improvement he's seen in practice.

"She's done a marvelous job," Looke said. "If you've got a good, talented person that can draw the best out of the athletes, then they'll work harder. She's done a good job of doing that."

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