The Milligan College men’s and women’s swim teams competed in an intersquad swim meet Saturday, Oct. 19 in Milligan’s swimming pool. The meet was the culminating event of a week-long black versus orange team competition.
“I wanted the team to do something fun and enjoyable but also with some different events mixed in as well as what they will actually be competing in,” head swim coach Spencer Scarth said. Scarth wanted to use this intersquad event to “do anything to prepare the team” for upcoming meets.
He also added events like the tennis ball toss and the 100 meter kick with a board that would not typically be in a traditional meet. “I wanted to move away from more traditional events. So there’s certainly not a belly-flop contest, but I wanted to do things that are light and enjoyable to make us a more well-rounded team.”
In addition to different events during the meet, Scarth also put the team in “uncomfortable situations” as some swimmers participated in six events compared to the four in a regular meet.
While the swimming took place Saturday, the Orange and Black teams, lead by team captains senior Lindsey Grow and junior Jarod Blazo respectively, competed in multiple events throughout the entire week. These included decorating the pool, taking over the Milligan swim team’s Instagram page, creating a hype video, making up team chants and generating “a lot of positivity,” Grow said.
The events outside of the pool also affected the score of the overall competition, and so could the week’s practices. “If coach heard you not really being a good sport at practice, then he took points off for that,” Grow said.
The Black team won the competition with a final score of 241 points to the Orange team’s 224. The entire Buff squad will swim again Saturday, Oct. 26 in a tri-meet against Bethel University and Union College at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky.
Headline photo: A group of Milligan swimmers chant their group-made chant in the Milligan pool.