(extracted from http://www.charlatan.ca)

Ravens swim through exhaustion against Brock      
Written by Morgan Rowe     
Thursday, 11 January 2007
  
The Carleton University Ravens swim team was relaxed and cheerful Jan. 6 when they took on
the Brock University Badgers in their first swim meet of 2007.

The Ravens were the overall winners of the day, taking in a combined total of 289 points to 
Brock's 163. Carleton's women, missing three of their top swimmers, lost to Brock by only 
seven points. But Carleton's men scored a definitive win, 159 to 26. 

The win was a foregone conclusion even before the meet began. Brock's two-man men's team 
could not possibly beat Carleton's fuller roster.

"Even if we lose, we win," said Greg McKay, Carleton's men's team captain.

Carleton's confidence was obvious throughout the morning. On the pool deck conversation 
wandered from American politics to reading week plans, and from past meets to Paris Hilton.

But the assured win did not stop some swimmers from standing out. Ravens Erika Heesen and 
Kristin Smith had the three best times at the meet, while Kelly Doyle put in an impressive 
performance in her first 400-metre freestyle.

According to Raven head coach Lynn Marshall, the team is exactly where she expects them to 
be at this point in the season: exhausted.

"This time of [the] year, the times aren't going to be great," said Marshall. "But people 
did really well when there was someone beside them, pushing hard and trying to get to the 
wall first."

Many of Carleton's swimmers spent the holiday break training in Florida. Marshall said the 
training will eventually pay off, especially in terms of endurance, but she does not expect 
to see results for a few weeks.

"The people who went to Florida are really tired right now. Soon we'll start our taper for 
the championship, and that's where we will see the results," she said.

The Badgers were also suffering from a tough December training regime that led to their 
poor performance, said Brock head coach Peter Bradstreet.

"They're completely exhausted," he said. "Because they were out of school for the holidays 
they've been training a lot more than they normally do."

Both Brock and Carleton's teams are already looking ahead to the provincial championships 
in early February. Marshall said her team's goal is to have as many swimmers make the top 
16 as possible, and to focus on raising the relay teams' scores.