On the fourth day of the lengthy and intense Liberty League Championships which ran from Feb. 18 to Feb. 21, the Ithaca College males’s and girls’s swimming and diving head coach Mike Blakely-Armitage ’00 discovered himself in a pool, clothed in full enterprise apparel and a tie.
Blakely-Armitage received out of the pool dripping chlorine, shedding glad tears and admiring the grit of the swimmers who had simply achieved one thing that had by no means been completed earlier than: successful the Liberty League Championship collectively. The males gained their first title in convention historical past since becoming a member of the Liberty League in 2017 with 1,722 factors, and the ladies claimed their seventh consecutive win with 1,820 factors at Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium.
For the previous 4 seasons, Blakely-Armitage watched the ladies’s group maintain the trophy whereas he watched the lads’s group place behind one in all its largest rivals, Rochester Institute of Technology.
Although the groups are all the time deeply related and intertwined, this yr was additional particular: everybody received to expertise the sensation of leaping within the pool on the meet’s conclusion, the Bombers’ successful custom.
“Seeing both teams in the pool [after we won] at the same time, celebrating the same accomplishment, for me as a coach, was just a really amazing moment,” Blakely-Armitage mentioned. “I broke down a little bit. I was just overcome with the moment. I don’t know if [the swimmers] saw me or not [but I was] able to kind of step back, because sometimes coaches think about the next thing. … We were kind of basking in that glow.”
Despite competing for separate trophies, the lads’s and the ladies’s groups fall below one umbrella with the teaching employees and schedule. They usually follow collectively, eat meals collectively and total share a presence and a thriving group tradition. Junior Kathleen Papiernik, who gained co-swimmer of the meet together with senior Matthew Mitros, already skilled successful the title twice, however mentioned this yr was notably notable.
“It is something that I will never forget or never take for granted, the fact that both teams won,” Papiernik mentioned. “Both of the teams have such high respect for each other. … [the men’s team and coaches] started crying. … It was so wholesome. I’m so proud of them. Everyone is so proud of them.”
Mitros mentioned he visualized the victory on the pool deck throughout every day of the meet and the times main as much as it. When he had a quiet second in his day, he closed his eyes, imagined the sounds of the gang, the splash of chilly water when the buzzer would go off and each kick within the water. He mentioned he is ready to flip off his thoughts throughout the race itself to concentrate on the final word aim.
“Not wanting to be on the sidelines anymore, that’s a motivator,” Mitros mentioned. “[Winning is where] I want to be in the midst when the training gets hard in January and February, even like October. … Sometimes that’s enough to just get the blood pumping a little bit, get the emotions going. … Sometimes it can be a little pick me up out of the mud and just get you through practice.”
Mitros and Papiernik, who each broke program data within the 100-yard butterfly races, had been simply among the athletes who put up stellar performances. Sophomores Elizabeth Bodie and Bennett Molitor-Kirsch and senior Ryan Cooke additionally broke program data. According to Blakely-Armitage, over 40 swimmers broke private finest occasions.
The months of coaching main as much as the meet had been rigorous, however Blakely-Armitage mentioned he steadinessd holding the athletes bodily challenged but emotionally prepared. Two weeks earlier than the meet, the swimmers toned down the yardage, however saved the depth up.
Throughout the season, he mentioned he additionally met with athletes individually. Despite having 70 swimmers on his roster, he took the time to get to know them as folks outdoors of the pool and appeared out for them throughout the thick of the competitors.
“The mental energy … wears on you too,” Blakely-Armitage mentioned. “I think my goal is to kind of make sure that emotionally, they’re taken care of. For me as a coach, while I’m getting excited, I really have to take a back seat to what their needs are.”
Mitros mentioned holding the vitality excessive and staying bodily intact all through a 4–day lengthy morning, afternoon and night competitors is extraordinarily tough, however the work made all the things worthwhile in the top.
“It gets exponentially harder every session,” Mitros mentioned. “Every morning is so much harder than the previous one. Day three, it feels like you get hit by a bus. Day four, it feels like you get hit by a bigger bus. It kills you. It’s difficult because you go to bed late, you get up early. There’s a ton of adrenaline, but when I leave the meet, [I try] to appreciate what I did, what happened, but take a breath.”
Papiernik mentioned the expertise of being part of the championship was an expertise she’s going to always remember and thinks it is among the finest sporting occasions at IC all yr.
“I remember saying on the last day, ‘I wish we had one more day,’ because the energy that we bring and just the greatness that’s happening around us is so intoxicating,” Papiernik mentioned. “I don’t want it to ever end. … Liberty League Championships makes a boring sport less boring, that’s for sure.”
Mitros mentioned successful their first convention championship might be useful for the group sooner or later and can enhance how the group will get ranked within the coaches polls and the twin meet rankings.
“We were completely undervalued,” Mitros mentioned. “I think we were a better team than some of the teams that ranked above us every year, but because I don’t think we have that history, we’re not as known, I think they were just kind of glossing over us.”
Blakely-Armitage additionally mentioned the win might be useful when constructing the following first-year class of Bombers. He mentioned that having momentum with the ladies’s group has helped him proceed their lengthy streak of titles.
“I would hope that it would legitimize my efforts in recruiting,” Blakely-Armitage mentioned. “I’ve recruited some kids that make it possible for us to win the championship, but I also hope that it’ll pay off in the future, and that kids want to be part of the winning team.”
Mitros and Papiernik, who each broke program data within the 100-yard butterfly races, had been simply among the athletes who put up stellar performances. Sophomores Elizabeth Bodie and Bennett Molitor-Kirsch and senior Ryan Cooke additionally broke program data. According to Blakely-Armitage, over 40 swimmers broke private finest occasions.
Mitros, Papiernik and sophomore Sydney Koehler certified for the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, which might be held from March 18 to 21 on the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis. Following the NCAA Division III Region 4 Diving Championships on Feb. 27-28, first-year diver Madison Morris and senior Eliza Salus additionally certified for nationals, whereas sophomore Anastasia Albornoz and junior Emily Provost had been named as diving alternates.
After basking within the second of the victory, Blakely-Armitage will get again to work to arrange his swimmers for an additional likelihood to win a championship trophy and bounce within the pool together with his group. “Our season is still going on, and we have the luxury of kind of extending that, and that’s a really nice thing to kind of be able to enjoy the moment [of winning Liberty Leagues],” Blakely-Armitage mentioned.