Live The Dream

This has been the season's theme, its de facto motto, and, with the conclusion of our Conference Championship, its reality. The saying came into the year with Elspeth, a senior, and made its way onto a banner, the back of our T-shirts, and our team persona.

By the end of Finals on Sunday, we were looking at what may have been the best meet in team history and what was definitely the most exciting meet I’ve coached. Our swimmers saw dozens of lifetime best times and our women broke 11 school records—8 individual records spread between 6 women, plus both 200 and 400 medley relays and the 800 freestyle relay.

Our men’s team came together like I’ve never seen before. Team huddles, themed shirts, and a real passion for fast swimming that was stunning. We moved up in our seeding by sheer will as the guys crushed their old marks and climbed in the standings. Guys made Finals for the first time and lopped gobs of time off their swims.

Noah... AKA: Banner Boy #1

Lindsay's 200 IM victory

We have three women with provisional qualifying times for NCAA Nationals—Lindsay in both IMs, Koy in the 200 Free and Annie in the 100 Back. So, there’s a waiting game for them, but most of the squad now moves into the off-season. Everyone is excited and happy.

It’s hard to believe this part of our year is over, but I’m so proud of what our team accomplished and the way they carried themselves through this meet. Yesterday people flooded by my office and the pool to visit because it’s the most natural thing to do after class and before going back to the dorms or off to dinner. Quite a few took a dip in the pool to loosen up. For a coach, there is nothing better than seeing your team happy and motivated to keep moving forward and looking to next season. The fires are stoked and the fun continues.

Seniors and Coach:

Once more, just the ladies:

Be my Pioneer Valentine

Zac surprised our women with roses for yesterday's session. In his defense, so did Matt Yelin (later that night) and Matt got one for his head coach, too...



The end approaches and the Pioneers show no signs of letting up. This morning the team crafted a new cheer to the tune of classic pep band song "Go Fight Win." Simply stunning.

Our men put up the third best 200 Medley Relay swim in school history and climbed the podium at the beginning of finals last night.



When you're in need of a little pick-me-up, let your teammates carry you through the tough times!


Our women's 800 Free Relay team and their proud, proud coach.

This shot catches a fraction of the excitement over the girls' recrod-smashing finish in the 800 Free Relay.

Nine school records... (and counting)

Just when one might expect momentum to slow, the cascade of lifetime best swims and school records continues unabated. Starting the night for the men , our 200 Medley Relay squad posted the third fastest relay performance in school history, less than a second off a mark set in 1991. Later tonight, Zac finished 5th overall in the 100 Back with a spectacular effort wire-to-wire.

On the women's side, the tumult of records has increased. Today alone, two relay and three individual school records have fallen by the wayside. Also, Koy, Lindsay, and Annie (who each set a school record in her respective event) notched NCAA provisional qualifying times.

When it rains, it pours. And we look forward to more success pouring down on the Pios tomorrow on the final day of competition.

Greatest Session in Pio Swimming History

I get to call it that because I update the blog... But, I don't think I'm wrong. I have truly never seen a team get off to such a strong start. This morning saw lifetime bests in ¾ of our swims and one school record. Tough to top… until we got to the finals.

Four school records and huge time drops nearly across the board.

Lindsay Nixon lowered her previous mark from the morning in winning the title in the 200 IM. This swim earned her a provisional NCAA qualifying time.

Claire Jordan finished 5th overall in the 500 Freestyle and dropped three seconds, breaking the Lewis & Clark school record, as well.

The final women’s race of the night was spectacular. In the 400 Medley Relay, Annie Hay lead off the relay with a school record in the 100 Backstroke. Hay combined with Susie Trexler, Lindsay Nixon, and Koy Collier to smash the former school record by more than four seconds. For the men, the finals proved sweet for Zac Hixson who lopped more than three seconds off his lifetime best time to move up to 10th place in the 200 IM. Sam Palmer broke the 22-second barrier to finish in 21.88 seconds in the 50 Freestyle.

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is only Day II, but I welcome the chance to see our team race again. We’ve had great cheers and numerous bus speeches in just the first day of competition. As Sam said, we’re still building to the crescendo. It’s going to be a great weekend!

Record-breaking morning!

Our swimmers put up one of the best first-morning performances I’ve ever seen by a team. Prelims began at 10:00am and by Noon we had seen one school record, over a dozen lifetime bests and excellent positioning for Finals tonight.

Senior Lindsay Nixon smashed the school record in the 200 Individual Medley and is the top seed for tonight's final. She touched in 2:10.81, downing the old mark of 2:11.92 by just over a second. Four more Pioneer women qualified for the consolation final heat of the IM: Koy Collier, Susie Trexler, Cat Menkel-Lawrence, and Mandy Hamilton. Claire Jordan swam to a lifetime best swim in the 500 Freestyle and is seeded fifth going into tonight's final. Senior Annie Hay qualified 8th to swim in the Finals heat of the 50 Freestyle. With this swim, she moved into 7th all-time for the Pios in that race.

In men's competition, co-team captain Sam Palmer swam to a best time in the 50 Freestyle and seeded himself 10th for tonight's final. Palmer moved into 5th place in Pioneer Swimming history for the 50 Freestyle. Co-captain Zac Hixson is coming back ranked 11th tonight in the 200 IM.

Team Dinner

Countdown: 1.5 days to Conference. Tonight Annie had the team over to her house for dinner, with the aid of her mom and grandmother. They treated us to gargantuan trays of lasagna, bottomless salad bowls, garlic bread and Annie's homemade brownies.

The run-up to Conference has flown by and we leave early tomorrow afternoon. I know we're ready to swim fast and we'll see it first thing Friday morning. The training is behind us now. The path is laid for success and we begin our walk down the path. Poetically, as it were.

A couple shots of the team, one with a smashing close-up of Koy's right arm.

Four days out of the big meet

Departure for the Northwest Conference Championship: 4 Days.

The moment is almost here where the hard work culminates in fast swimming and the best team meet of the season. The competition where you are lifted up to great performances by your teammates and the team chemistry reaches its highest point of support and enthusiasm. Each race seems less contested by the individual and more by an entire team.

These next few days we spend honing the skills and capacities we built all season. This is an exciting time! It is a time of more sleep and an opportunity to finish up some school projects, take a deep breath, and prepare for a big weekend. Our workouts this week see great focus on the fundamentals with a little time to cut loose and practice such integral actions as relay exchanges, bubble rings and the goggle toss.

Senior Day! Last Home Meet

On this day we honored our seniors for all they've meant to our program and to their teammates. This year gifts were presented, tears flowed, and so did junior co-captain Zac Hixson on the rap he put to music for the presentation. After honoring each senior, we pumped Zac's song over the sound system and let the magic flow.

Dave is the split maestro!