With only one swimmer lost to graduation and a handful of new talent headed into the water, there is reason for optimism around the Saint Mary’s swimming and diving program.
“When you combine our newcomers with our returning talent I really believe this could be an exciting season,” second-year head coach Ryan Dombkowski said. “We had a great finish to last season and I expect us to carry that momentum into this year.”
Leading the charge in the pool last year was Melissa Gerbeth. During her first season with the Belles she made a major impact when she won the 1650 freestyle event at the season ending MIAA Championships. In doing so the Mishawaka, Ind. native, became just the second swimmer at Saint Mary’s to win an individual event and in the process earn All-MIAA honors. In addition to claiming that event, she set a new Saint Mary’s record in the 400 individual medley at the Championships.
“Melissa had a great year for us last season and we expect the same from her again this season. She really pushes her teammates to be better on a regular basis.” Dombkowski said.
During their first seasons in the program both Lindsey Nelis and Sara Niemann found themselves as top scorers for the Belles. Nelis posted times that are among the top five in College history in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 1650 freestyle events. Niemann returns after posting several top finishes in backstroke events before an unfortunate illness kept her out of the MIAA Championships.
Senior Kelly Tighe returns as the captain of the squad for the second consecutive year and will compete in relay and short freestyle events as well as the breaststroke. Jennifer Lebiedz will anchor most of the butterfly strokes. At the conference championships, Lebiedz was the Belles second leading scorer.
With the addition of diving to the squad this year after not competing in diving events for the last two years, there are now more opportunities for the Belles to post better team scores.
“With the addition of diving to our line-up, it means we don’t have to rely on just our swimmers to score points and it will help make us a more well rounded team,” Dombkowski concluded.
