he perBy Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

Nate Kellogg wasn't surprised by the times. Or, at least, he wouldn't have been had they come a bit later in the season.

But in the inaugural meet of the season, on the first weekend of October, five William & Mary women's swimming records were broken.

"We'd only been in the water five full weeks leading up to that, so to put up some of those times with such a short amount of work underneath them was surprising," said Kellogg, now in his sixth season as head coach. "But they certainly worked for it.

"We knew they'd be fast, but we didn't know they'd be quite that fast. A bunch of them leveled up. We see what they're capable of, we see what they can do, and now there's no looking back. Full steam ahead."

The performances came in a dual meet against CAA rivals Delaware and UNC Wilmington along with George Washington. The W&M women defeated the Blue Hens and Seahawks — the only teams to finish ahead of them in last season's CAA Championships — and narrowly lost to the Patriots.

Junior Lindsay Juhlin broke two dual meet records, winning the 100 breaststroke (1:01.88) and placing second in the 100 butterfly (53.50). Her breaststroke time was half a second faster than her swim in the CAA Championship seven months ago.

"She trained all spring to get her Olympic trial cut and barely, barely missed it in the 100 fly," Kellogg said. "While that was a bummer, she put in all the work that it took to get there. She just kept the ball rolling into summertime and now the fall. It's certainly paying off."

Freshman Tess Lankford, swimming in her first collegiate event, set a school dual meet standard with a second-place finish 200 IM at 2:02.59.

"Tess is a great, great swimmer," Kellogg said. "She was a big pickup for us in recruiting. I don't think we saw her full capabilities, but that was definitely a glimpse into what it looks like."

The Tribe also set a pair of dual-meet marks in relay events. Julie Addison, Ellie Scherer, Juhlin, and Caroline Burgeson won the 200 medley relay in 1:39.54. According to Swimcloud, that's the third-fastest time in the nation this season behind Arizona State and Michigan.

"That was about the same time (1:39.32) we swam at CAAs last year," Kellogg said. "For this early in the season without a lot of work underneath us, I was pretty happy and surprised by it."

Sophomore Sarah Dunham, Burgeson, Healey Morgan and Flynn Truskett won the 400 relay in 3:23.59.

The coaches for all three teams in the meet agreed to allow swimmers to wear tech suits.

"We typically don't wear them for dual meets," Kellogg said. "But we knew going in that Wilmington, Delaware and GW are some of the best mid-major programs in the country.

"So we all agreed to let the kids suit up and really see where we are at this point. We felt like this meet was a little bigger than a typical dual meet."

Kellogg also saw strong performances on the men's side.

"Brock Rempe had a really, really good 100 breaststroke (third at 54.91)," he said. "Aiden Bond had some really nice swims for us. He was second in the 50 (20.17) and (44.23) freestyle. He came off a really strong summer going to Olympic trials. I think that was a great experience for him to draw on.

"Rhett Cosgrove has really come on strong this fall. He's dealt with some injuries the past two years and he hadn't had a full fall yet. I'm excited to see where he goes, where he takes his swimming this fall."

The teams will head to Annapolis, Md., Saturday for a dual meet with Navy and UMBC.