Ten meters high, staring down into the pool below, the divers stand ready. The fear that would claim even the toughest of men about to fall into the blue depths, nowhere to be found on their stoic faces. One, two, three flips, as the women are in the air longer than the Wright Brothers' first attempt at flight, barely causing a splash as they slip into the water.
Despite a strong performance by the women's swimming and diving team on Saturday, the Bulls could not topple Mid-American Conference powerhouse Toledo, falling by a score of 180-118.
"We swam very well," said interim head coach Scott Vanderzell. "We had a lot of lifetime bests, and we're swimming right at our lifetime best. We were able to win some of the races that, coming into the meet, we didn't think we would be able to win, which was very impressive."
Two standouts for the Bulls (2-4 overall, 0-4 MAC) in last weekends' meet were juniors Danielle Gervais and Kahla Walkinshaw. Both were able to claim victories in two races each.
Walkinshaw impressed coaches and fans alike, sweeping both butterfly events. The Ontario native took the 200-yard race in just 2:06.17. As a late addition, she soared through the 100-yard butterfly for the win in 58.64, improving her season best by three-quarters of a second.
Walkinshaw also finished second in the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:38.99.
Gervais followed in her teammates' footsteps and swept both her races, as she took the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events. She took the 100-yard race in 1:08.31. The business major went on to a season-best performance, taking the 200-yard in 2:26.32.
"We had a lot of good races," Vanderzell said. "Danielle Gervais in the 100, 200 breaststroke really stepped up. Kahla Walkinshaw in 100 fly and 200 fly also stepped up. Then we finished out in two outstanding relays, which is a great accomplishment against a solid Toledo team."
The Bulls had a one-two finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The winning foursome of sophomore Andrea Scarf, senior Jackie English, Walkinshaw, and senior Olga Wojcik finished in just 3:38.69.
The B squad was not far behind, taking second place with strong performances by freshman Rachel Sorg, freshman Jena Copelin, sophomore Meghan Lafferty and junior Meg Brosch ending in 3:43.05.
The Rockets now advance to 5-2-1 and 2-1-1 MAC.
One problem for the Bulls came from Toledo's Brie Henning. UB had no answer as she won three events for the Rockets. Henning took the 100-yard backstroke in 59.87, 100-yard freestyle in 53.44 and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:12.67.
Sorg also finished strong, winning the 200-yard backstroke in 2:11.72 and took second place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.78.
Beyond winning and losing, there is something more important at play when it comes to UB swimming.
"The team is really supportive and they help you," Gervais said. "When they stand at the end of the lane cheering for you, it's really helpful in your race because it motivates you to swim faster. We all practice really hard and are always there for each other."
The team faces its next competition Wednesday at 6 p.m. at St. Bonaventure.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
