Women’s swim team wins AAC championship, men runners up

The women’s swim team is the Appalachian Athletic Conference champion for the second year in a row. 

The Eagles bested Milligan by twelve points despite trailing Milligan by seven at the start of the final day of competition. 

“On [Saturday] we were so pumped up and ready,” said senior Hannah Springer. “Our coach gave us a huge pep talk before we left the hotel and individually spoke to each senior about their time at Asbury. He was crying and a lot of us were too, it was super emotional and put us in the right headspace to give it all we got Saturday. We knew we would be okay no matter what happened, and I think that really showed up well without a lot of pressure. We had gone through so much this year and ending well, winning, or losing, mattered to us.”

The men’s team also saw victory, as they placed second for the second year in a row. Combined, the women and men had ten individual event winners.

“We all [contributed] equally, we have some star swimmers but it was really the bulk of our team that won it,” said Springer. “We had girls barely making finals that helped us catch up on points and that was huge. Honestly, it was our teammates in the stands going crazy for every swim that helped us win. I don’t think there are one or two swimmers we can look to that actually won it for us.”

Although every team member contributed to the wins, one swimmer’s performance was particularly strong and earned them league accolades. Freshman Amber Schulte has been named the AAC Co-Swimmer of the Year. 

Along with Schulte, women’s and men’s team head coach Alex Keyser also received recognition from the AAC. He was named AAC Coach of the Year at the tournament. 

The NAIA National Tournament has been cancelled due to the pandemic, so the AAC Tournament was the conclusion of Asbury’s swimming season.