By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

It's not lost on Nate Kellogg that 17 months ago, his swimming program at William & Mary had been slated for elimination. That decision was soon reversed, but it didn't erase six weeks of uncertainty and anxiety.

All of which makes winning the CAA Women's Swimming and Diving championship all the more special. Not only did it end a four-year drought, and not only did the Tribe win without any divers, it was sweet redemption.

"Perspective is key because a year and a half ago, we did not exist after being cut," Kellogg said. "To bounce back in the middle of COVID and all the adversity this group has faced just shows how tough, resilient and driven they are.

"First and foremost, a huge thank you to our alumni and broader community supporters for bringing this team back. We obviously wouldn't be here without them. We had some key performers over the weekend, but up and down, everybody contributed to this effort. It was a total team effort."

After four consecutive runner-up finishes, William & Mary took first with 663.5 points. UNC Wilmington was second with 621 points followed by Towson (551.5), Drexel (535), Delaware (454) and Northeastern (424).

The Tribe had four individual champions in Missy Cundiff in the 50 free, Katie Stevenson in the 100 free, Anna Kenna in the 100 back and Annie Tuttle in the 200 breast. Those were 80 total points, but W&M's depth played a big role in stacking up the points.

"Winning is always good for individuals, but we care about how many people make it into the A final or the B final," Tuttle said. "Every person who makes it into a final matters.

"We focus more on getting into the finals so we can get points. Obviously, it's fun to win, but if we can get the numbers, that's what we really rely on.
In the 50 free, for example, Cundiff won gold with a CAA championship-record time of 22.26 seconds. W&M also took sixth (Stevenson), seventh (Kenna) and 14^th (Brooke Lamoureux) for a total of 47 points.

In the 200 IM, the Tribe finished second (Ellie Scherer), sixth (Maura Graff), ninth (Ellie Henry), 13^th (Alexis Bonfield), and 14^th (Tuttle) for 46 more points.

"We were definitely pretty sure in our top end folks, but the depth was the key for us," Kellogg said. "We had freshmen step up in major ways. I was really impressed with the way they handled themselves and how much they improved.

"We recruited them immediately after we were brought back, which was so late in the recruiting cycle. A lot of them were just looking for places to go. They really stepped up in a major way."

The Tribe also won the 200-medley relay (Kenna, Tuttle, Corinne Davenport and Cundiff) with a school-record time of 1:40.34 and 800-free relay (Stevenson, Grace Tramack, Ellie Henry and Elizabeth Intihar).

William & Mary has not competed in diving since 2010-11, when former coach Matt Crispino decided to focus the program's resources on swimming. A major part of the reason was because there was (and remains) no 3-meter board on campus.

As the only team competing with no divers, W&M starts every championship meet almost literally from behind. Last year, the Tribe finished as runner-up to James Madison by 166 points. The Dukes scored 175 of their 829 points in the 1- and 3-meter diving.

"We have to make up for those points, Kellogg said. "It is a difference maker for sure, and something we know we have to battle going in."

Tuttle said the team takes a practical approach.

"We do know going into the meet that we have to make up those points," she said. "But instead of focusing on that, it's more about having fun and swimming."

The team takes that same philosophy with its pool at Bee McLeod Recreation Center. It might not stack up with other programs in terms of aesthetics, but no one is complaining.

"Our pool is 40-plus years old," Kellogg said. "It's a great training facility. We renovated the HVAC system six years ago, so we have great air quality and water quality. And for a pool that's about 40-plus years old, that's about as much as we can expect.

"As far as deck space and all the bells and whistles, we don't have that. But those things don't really matter. The pool doesn't make the swimmers. That's how we look at it. We put in the work, and that's what it comes down to."

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