Swimming impresses upon return to pool

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Tulane athletics department made many difficult cuts in order to deal with the loss of facilities, budgetary constraints and personnel diaspora. Among these cuts was the upstart women’s swimming and diving team, which had only been a sport at Tulane since 2003, but had enjoyed early success, including a Conference USA title in 2005. While the university regained its footing after Katrina, sports were not a priority.

Ripples were finally felt, however, on June 19, 2008 when Lena Guarriello accepted the position of headcoach of the rebuilding program, set to launch one year after her hiring. In the ensuing months, Guarriello built up a program essentially from scratch. Green Wave swimming and diving made its dramatic return versus the University of New Orleans Oct. 3 at the Reily Student Center. At the event, freshmen Lauren Pfohl won both the 100 and 200 backstroke events, and classmate Grace Tarka finished first in 100 Fly.

“It was really exciting. I think the girls did a great job,” Guarriello. “Our inexperience showed a little bit, but they swam with a lot of heart, they swam with energy and they did really well against a more experienced team.”

This past weekend, Tulane had yet another impressive showing against the LSU Tigers. While one aspect of Green Wave athletics was getting crushed on the football field, another was excelling in the water. Pfohl scored another victory in the 200 backstroke, Allie Evans won the 500 freestyle, and the Green Wave scored a team win the 4x100 medley.

Though their success may not be a surprise to some close to the team, from an outsider’s perspective the early positives of the Green Wave’s appear shocking. The 17-woman roster features 15 freshmen, one sophomore and one junior. Obviously, with such little collegiate experience on the roster, a “rebuilding year” would seem to be in order, especially given the circumstances of the team’s return post-Katrina. Though the team is, statistically, 0-3, their early competitive nature and resolve have been an inspiration to both the team members and Tulane supporters across the student body.

‘It really boosts the team’s confidence,’ Evans said of the team’s performance against LSU. ‘It shows us that we can be put up against any challenge and put in 110 percent effort against it.’

From Nov. 20 - 22, the team will travel to Houston for the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational, where they will hopefully continue to show their early-season focus and give the rest of Conference USA a preview of what should be years of solid competition. With Pfohl, Evans, Tarka and a handful of other freshmen rounding out the young roster, expect Tulane to compete for conference titles again in the near future.

“I’m extremely proud of them. They are showing a lot of maturity for a young team and are swimming competitively with much more seasoned programs,” said Coach Guarriello.

Tulane will take on Western Kentucky in a dual meet Dec. 5 in the Reily Center Natatorium.