VMI Swim and Dive hosts the America East championship

Over the past weekend the Virginia Military Institute's Swim and Dive teams hosted the America East Championship conference meet. VMI undeniably highlighted this meet as countless personal, team, and Institute records were broken throughout the duration of the four day meet: - Cadets Tinn Nguyen '27, Chase Lane '24, Tyler Blackwell '24, and Matthew Picard '27 took the Institute record for the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:30.88.- Cadets Picard, Sam Castle '27, Elijah Fields '27, and Dalton Cosner '24 beat the previous school record in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 6:47.05.- Cadet Picard set a new team record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:41.00.- Cadets Chino Vera '24, Cosner, Castle, and Max Brunner '27 achieved a new Institute record in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:23.51.- Cadets Kate Taylor '24, Jillian Maher '24, Walden Wilder '27, and Noelle Tong '26 set the women's team record in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:38.46.- Cadet Picard set another team record with his 20.64 second performance in the 50 freestyle event.- Cadet Ethan Griffith '25 won the silver medal in the 400 IM while also smashing the VMI record with his time of 3:58.62.- Cadet Blackwell set a new team record (49.82) in the 100 fly event.- Cadet Anne Bowles '24 marked a new team record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.76.- Cadet Sarah Liebenow claimed a new women's team record with a time of 4:49.74 in the 400 IM.- Cadets Tong, Bowles, Maher, and Taylor swam a 4:02.37 in the 400 medley relay, claiming another women's record.- Cadets Castle, Lane, Blackwell, and Picard set a men's record in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:20.39.- Cadet Picard set another team record of 45.49 seconds in the 100 freestyle.- Cadet Castle secured an institute record in the 200 backstroke with a 1:50.28.- Cadets Picard, Castle, Vera and Cosner achieved a new team record with a 3:02.17 in the 400 freestyle relay. Over the course of February 14th-17th, the team broke a total of 26 records, those being a variety of team, individual, and rat records. While this meet marks the end of the official season for VMI's Swim and Dive team, there are more opportunities for the future, especially for the underclassmen who will lead the team next year. Cadet Lane reflected on the team's season and his own experience as a Keydet saying: "I'm proud of the team's performance and how we developed as a team throughout the year. It's been a long time coming with the 100yd breast, and all the highs and lows were definitely worth the experience as a Keydet swimmer. The challenges of swimming at the college level and time management made me who I am today." Similarly, team captain Cadet Vera stated: "For our second year having a new coach, we've set a good foundation and seen exponential growth with our swims. We have broken records and will continue to do so. Though the First Class is leaving, it is up to those who follow to uphold the legacy. The seeds of the Virginia Military Institute's Swim and Dive team have been planted." VMI's Swimming and Dive program has set a fantastic precedent with an equally fantastic end to the 2023-2024 season. While the class of '24 may move on in May, the remainder of the team will remain, putting forth more effort in order to break additional records in the coming seasons. With such an achievement in this year's season, VMI Swim and Dive fans are surely looking forward to the great things to come in the future.