Mizzou Swim Club hosts Halloween meet

by Annette Jenkins, posted Dec. 3, 2009

“Here they come, with unshaven legs, headphones blaring, and all looking the same in their baggy pants and hooded sweatshirts, college students from far and near, all ready to have a good time doing what they live for…swim.”
– Anonymous quote from swim team t-shirt

The Mizzou Swim Club (MUSC) hosted a Halloween Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 31 at the MU Student Recreation Complex. Other clubs attending included Indiana, Ohio at Miami, Nebraska and Kansas. Mizzou Swim Club men and women took first place overall by more than 200 points each.

“Overall, I'm immensely pleased at the results from our meet,” said David Blair, president of the Mizzou Swim Club. “We're a young team, just a year old, and already we have such amazing prospects for success.”

With more than 175 swimmers in the water Saturday, each club put forth their best foot – or flipper. Mizzou alone had at least 35 of its 60 members in the water.

“I would say that it was expected, but I was surprised at the margin of our win,” Blair said. “We have a lot of strong swimmers this year and the results just make me hopeful for an awesome turn-out for the rest of the season, especially at regionals and nationals.”

Charles Ludeke, an avid butterflier, is happy to be a part of the club team.

“I love the swim club,” Ludeke said. “It's by far one of the best things that's happened to me at Mizzou. I love training hard. I love feeling in good shape. After taking a year off from swimming, I tried to get back in the pool. It was difficult swimming alone after so many years of being on a team. I can be pretty competitive, and training with people better than myself pushes me to work harder. Once the swim club started, I found a group of people that would give me what I wanted: people to work hard with and laugh hard with.”

The boys ‘A’ relay for the 200-yard medley, which included Ludeke, Max Jaben, Kevin Capps, and Hadleigh Tyler, finished strong with a time of 1:39:46, giving MUSC 18 points, and that was just one of the many first place finishes made by the MUSC. Sophomore Katy Bergen made another first place finish when she swam the 25-yard freestyle in 12.40 seconds, giving Mizzou nine points.

“I was seriously thinking about transferring before I joined the swim club,” Bergen said. “Not only was the swim club a competitive outlet for a sport that I love, it was an opportunity to gain a consistent group of friends who are both fun and supportive.”

The Halloween Invitational was held purely out of the love of the sport.

“We all share a common bond in our love of swimming,” said Ludeke. “We love to laugh. We love to have fun. The team is so friendly and encouraging. Swim club gives me a place to work out and laugh with great friends.”

{back to homepage}