Winning stroke by stroke

This past weekend was taxing for the Wheaton Thunder swimming and diving team with back-to-back meets Friday and Saturday. Friday was a dual meet with Olivet Nazarene University in which Wheaton saw seven victories, but lost the overall meet.
The women’s team lost 115-80 and the men’s 115-82. They did, however, perform very well in multiple events. The Wheaton women and men both won the 200 yard freestyle relay. Juniors Carrie Bai and Noah Cameron, senior Sarah Oldach and freshman Amy Robison together claimed a time of 1:46.09. The men’s team of junior Chris Dingfield, freshman Cleveland Speece and sophomores Evan Cameron and Sam Price secured victory with a 1:31.18. Junior Kayla Roberson smoked the competition with a time of 4:34.40, finishing a full seven seconds ahead. Senior Will McCauley also finished way ahead of Olivet with a time of 4:16.29 in the 400-yard individual medley. Senior Erin Bagley beat Roberson by one second in the 100-yard breastroke. It was a solid effort by the Thunder, but they would do even better as the weekend proceeded.
Saturday saw them sweep the tri-meet with North Central and Augustana. The Wheaton men beat Augustana by a narrow margin of 129-125 and a wide margin of 189-41 over North Central. The women crushed North Central by a score of 176-67 and defeated Augustana 200-62. The women’s team was led by Bagley as she racked up wins in the 100-yard backstroke, 50 and 100-yard freestyle.
 
The Thunder diving team also represented well. Junior Abby Prince took first in the three-meter with 410.15 and sophomore Tyler Yates won the one-meter with 311.35 points. These impressive scores give them a solid foundation as they head into CCIW tournament competition.
This season is the last for head coach Jon Lederhouse as he heads into retirement following the season’s conclusion. In honor of his highly successful 41 years of coaching, the Trustees of Wheaton College have decided to rename the Chrouser Natatorium after him.
“He has been an outstanding Christian leader and mentor to his many student-athletes,” said Julie Davis, Wheaton’s Director of Athletics. “His personal devotion to Christ and his commitment to student discipleship has marked hundreds of lives.”
The new title of Jonathan Lederhouse Natatorium will take effect at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. The Thunder’s diving team will look to add to the trophy case this Friday and Saturday in Bloomington, Ill. as the CCIW Diving Championships commence. The swimming team will compete in their own CCIW Swimming Championships from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11.