Year in and year out, the very best swimmers within the A-10 flock to the conference championship to compete, with this year’s tournament being held at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Any one of these athletes will tell you that swimming is an individual team sport. The Rams came together one last time as a collective unit throughout their four days in Ohio, spanning from Wednesday Feb. 19 to Saturday Feb. 22.
The Fordham women’s team continued their impeccable season, placing second in the conference championship, only behind George Washington, and finishing the season with a 10-1 meet record (their only loss coming against Boston College by 1 point). The men finished the weekend in eighth place, with their meet record just below .500 at 4-6.
The women’s second-place finish perfectly caps off their near immaculate season, their best finish in the A-10 championship since 2014, also in second place. There is not enough space in this entire newspaper to do proper justice to the record-shattering performance the women’s team put on display. Amelia Bullock, the senior from Westport, Connecticut, claimed the honor of Most Outstanding Performer, the first Ram to do so in program history. She played a part in breaking five school records (two individual, three relays), four of which also serving as A-10 records, en route to her six medals.
Michelle Martin was the only other Ram with an individual gold medal, while Fordham took home six collectively. She claimed that title in the 50 freestyle, also a new school record with a time of 53.03 seconds.
The women’s strong finish on Saturday propelled them past two-time defending champion Duquesne, 534 to 525.
While the men finished in eighth place, they absolutely had highlights across their trip to Geneva. Sophomore Spencer Clarke thought the men performed particularly well in their team relays.
“The relays, no matter what, always have a special energy to them. No matter what, whether you’re tired, whether it’s the end of the meet like that last relay, or you swam the mile that day. Or maybe you didn’t swim as fast as you wanted to in the morning. No matter what, everyone show’s up for that relay and gives it their all and always finds a way to dig deeper and swim faster than they did in the morning or maybe then they did all week. Especially going into that final relay, we just talk about all the work we do for each other all year.”
As for individual performances, junior Patrick Wilson stole the show, breaking Fordham records in the 100 (55.29) and 200 (2:00.77) breaststroke events. He made his impact felt in his first year as a Ram, transferring from Binghamton after spending two years there.
While the season may seem over, the women participate in the NCAA Zone Diving Championship from March 9-11, and both squads look to send swimmers to the CSCAA National Invitational on March 12-14 in Cleveland, Ohio.
