Wednesday, Feb. 28 to Saturday, March 2, William and Mary swimming competed in the 2024 Coastal Athletic Association Championship at the Hampton Aquaplex in Hampton, Va. The Tribe saw notable standout performances from many athletes, including multiple record-breaking performances.
On Wednesday, the Tribe enjoyed success across the board in the 200-yard medley relay. For the women’s team, sophomore Caroline Burgeson, sophomore Sophia Heilen, junior Ellie Scherer and senior Kat Vanbourgondien finished with an impressive time of 1:39.32. They closely followed the North Carolina Wilmington team, which clinched the victory for this matchup. The time recorded by the Tribe was the second best in program history, closely following a record set by Vanbourgondien, Scherer, Heilen and Katie Stevenson in 2023.
For the men’s team, graduate student Conor Sokolowsky, sophomore Brock Rempe, senior Kent Codding and freshman Aiden Bond recorded a time of 1:26.51, the second-best time in program history. They closely followed the record time of 1:25.52 and notched a second-place finish for the Green and Gold.
In the 800-yard free relay event, the team of freshman Sarah Dunham, junior Devin Genderson, freshman Flynn Truskett and freshman Lauren Tucker recorded a time of 7:23.81. The men’s relay team of freshman David Yune, freshman Colin Mamaril, sophomore Will Glass and Sokolowsky recorded a time of 6:36.91. Both relay teams placed fifth on the leaderboard to end the contest.
In the 500-yard free finals event on Thursday, Tucker swam a time of 4:57.87 and placed eighth. For the men, Glass swam in the consolation finals, and placed seventh place with a time of 4:31.42.
In the 200-yard IM final, Scherer swam an impressive time of 1:58.96, earning her the CAA gold medal. This time moves Scherer to the second best time in program history, trailing Heilen’s time of 1:58.38. On the men’s team, Sokolowsky recorded a time of 1:46.59 and finished fourth in the finals.
In the 50-yard free finals, Burgeson finished in sixth place. Truskett, Dunham and freshman Zoe Arakelian placed first, fifth and eighth, respectively, in the consolation finals. On the men’s side, Bond finished second with a time of 19.79, an impressive time for his debut performance in the CAA tournament. In the consolation finals, sophomores Alex Valliere and Logan McDonald recorded fourth and sixth place finishes for the Tribe.
The next event was the 400-yard medley relay. The Tribe women clinched first place with an incredible time of 3:37.62. This was a record-breaking finish for the Green and Gold, and is now the second fastest time in program history. The relay included Vanbourgondien, Scherer, sophomore Lindsay Juhlin and Burgeson.
For the men, the Tribe placed fifth in the final thanks to Sokolowsky, Rempe, Codding and Bond. This event concluded the competition for the day.
Friday, the day began with the 100-yard fly finals. For the women, Juhlin placed second with a time of 53.10. Heilan followed with a time of 53.89. Juhlin’s time places her fifth of all time for the Tribe, and Heilan’s places her ninth of all time.
On the men’s side, McDonald, senior Gavin Lamoureux and Codding placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the consolation finals.
For the 400 IM finals, freshman Kaitlyn Conover-Emmert and Tucker placed fourth and seventh in the consolation finals. As for the men’s team, freshman Zach LeMay, freshman Thor Dyke and graduate student Jono Bennett placed third, fourth and fifth in the consolation finals.
In the 200-yard freestyle finals, Dunham placed fifth in the consolation race. Bond placed third in the finals for the men’s team. Bond’s recorded time of 1:36.88 places him seventh of all time for the Tribe.
Scherer collected another first-place medal in the 100-yard breaststroke finals. Finishing with a time of 1:00.84, Scherer beat her own previous record of 1:00.90. She continues to hold the fastest time in program history for this event. Juhlin finished fourth in the finals for the Tribe, finishing with the 12th-best time in program history.
On the men’s side, both Rempe and McDonald swam in the finals. Rempe placed fifth, followed by McDonald in sixth. These times are record-breaking performances and are the first and second fastest in program history.
In the 100-yard back finals, Vanbourgondien placed third and freshman Julie Addison placed eighth. In the men’s consolation finals, Sokolowsky, sophomore Bryce Rouzie, Codding, junior Micah Lowe and senior Aaron Tingley placed first, second, fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively.
In the 200-yard free relay, the Tribe placed fourth for the women, led by Burgeson, Truskett, Dunham and freshman Meghan Rourke. For the men’s team, the Tribe also placed fourth with a team of Bond, Valliere, McDonald and Lamoureux.
On the final day of the CAA Championship, the Tribe recorded an impressive showing.
In the 1650-yard freestyle, sophomore Kelsey Katt finished in sixth place with a time of 17:03.10, Tucker finished in seventh with a time of 17:03.78 and sophomore Kiersten Dagg placed ninth with a time of 17:13.17. For the men, Glass placed eighth with a time of 15:48.09.
In the 200-yard backstroke finals, in the consolation race, Vanbourgondien finished in second followed by her teammate Addison in third. For the men’s side, Rouzie placed fifth in the finals with a time of 1:44.85.
In the 100-yard freestyle finals, Truskett tied for sixth with a time of 50.57. In the consolation race, Burgeson placed first followed by Dunham in sixth. For the men, Bond placed third with a time of 43.61, the 10th-fastest time in program history.
In the 200-yard breaststroke finals, Scherer placed second with a time of 2:13.25, the fastest time in program history. This surpassed her former record of 2:15.50, which she had set in 2023. As for the men’s team, senior Cole Younger placed fifth in the finals. In the consolation race, Bennett placed fourth followed by his teammate junior Noah Spain in eighth.
For the women’s team, Heilen placed second in the 200 fly finals. She recorded a time of 2:00.27, the ninth-best time in program history. As for the men, Lamoureux placed eighth in the finals.
The final event of the meet was the 400-yard freestyle relay. For the women, Truskett, Burgeson, Arakelian and Dunham placed second with a time of 3:22.04, marking the eighth-best time in program history. As for the men, Bond, Yune, McDonald and Sokolowsky placed fifth.
Overall, the Tribe placed third for the women’s team rankings and fifth for the men’s rankings. The Tribe bade farewell to a number of seniors and ended its competition season with many personal bests and program records.
