In about one month from today, Florida State’s (FSU) Club Swimming team will depart for the 2023 National Championships by College Club Swimming, hosted at The Ohio State University. With most swimmers beginning training last fall, they’ve fought hard over the past two semesters to clock in under the challenging times required to compete at the elite-level meet. Club President Clay Powell stated that “the team has been training harder than ever,” and is composed of “a really dedicated group of swimmers that enjoy what they do, which helps make it easy for his board and him to lead them to train.”
In an interview with national qualifiers Charlotte Soll and Ava Rosen, who are both going on their second Nationals’ competition, Rosen stated she’s excited to compete in Ohio, as she’s never been there and Soll shared she is looking forward to spending time with her “supportive, loving, teammates” that cheer her on regardless of how she is doing in her race. Freshman standout Aidan White added that he is excited for nationals as he gets to travel with his friends and compete at a high level against other swimmers from across the country. Aside from being a fast team all together, there is great sportsmanship, support and friendship amongst the team, which makes them much stronger as time ticks closer to the biggest meet of the year. Powell stated he’s met “both of his roommates and his girlfriend through swim club,” and that “College Club Swimming as a whole is just a lot of fun and one of the best atmospheres in swimming across the entire nation.”
Similarly, swimmer Ryan Merlin shared that he “met so many great people on swim club and had so many fun experiences,” with it having a major positive impact on his life. Although swimming as a sport might mostly consist of individual races, the best results come when swimmers are bonded as a team, making FSU’s team a strong force coming into Nationals.
The team finished at No. 10 at Nationals last year, which took place in Atlanta, with many swimmers competing in the final heats. President Powell believes that the team has “an opportunity to move up a couple of spots” this year and is aiming to finish in the top ten once again, if not better. Aside from the team’s overall goal of finishing in the top ten rankings, members of the team have been working hard to hit personal records in Ohio, as it will be their final races of the season and mark the team’s end results for this year.
Competing at Club Nationals is a big accomplishment in itself, let alone coming into the meet with many qualifiers on both the women’s and men’s teams. Powell is “excited that as a club, FSU Swimming gets the opportunity to represent FSU and their sports club organization on a large scale.” Club sports provide the opportunity for students to stay fit and active, while also engaging in a sport they love, or maybe they just wanted to try. According to Powell, “no matter if someone swam a couple of years in high school, or 15+ years, the swim club is always open to accepting new members.” Competing at a large, competitive meet like Nationals and even having qualifying cuts to strive for throughout the season gives students the opportunity to continue doing what they love and working towards their goals, despite having moved away from high school sports.
A lot of swimmers dedicated many years of their lives to the water and getting to feel that adrenaline and love for the sport again is a gift that club swimming provides. Merlin stated that he “hasn’t swam competitively for about six years,” but FSU Club Swim gave him the opportunity to get back into the sport. White added that “swim club has not only given him a great opportunity to stay active and healthy but also allow him to assimilate into the FSU culture as he made a bunch of new friends at all grade levels.” It seems that swim club and club sports, in general, have a much greater impact on students than just physical exercise, as they are a source of finding smaller communities within FSU, lifelong friendships and motivation to get back into (or start) a sport with other people that wish to do the same! It is possible to keep up with the results of Nationals on the app Meet Mobile, their Instagram page, as well as by searching online for meet results published by College Club Swimming. Go Noles!
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