After a long and successful season versus tough competition, the Cortland swim team is in their final stretch with SUNYAC championships this week.
There have been many outstanding performances throughout the season. Here are some members of the team to look out for at the next meeting.
Senior Hunter Bernhardt holds the school record in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:05.80, the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:42.56, and the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:35.41. While Hunter hasn’t broken his own records again this season, he has high hopes for SUNYACS.
“My hopes for this upcoming SUNYACS are to swim fast and break new records,” Bernhardt said. “I feel a little sad, but excited now that it’s my last SUNYACS.”
Senior Sam Zani has contributed his talent in his four years here and has not held back for the last season of his swim career. Zani is one of the team’s fastest sprinters in the 100 free and 50 free and plays an important role in the team’s relays. Sam has big plans for his last SUNYACS.
“My main goal is to score as many points as I can for Cortland,” Zani said. “I hope to have very fast relay splits leading to medals for my teammates and I. It feels bittersweet that this is my last SUNYACS. I’m sad that this will be my last chance to compete, however I am happy to be finishing out my athletic career with Cortland and my awesome teammates.”
Sophomore Kellen Dickman has been one of Cortland’s rising stars. Dickman has had many outstanding swims and earned SUNYAC swimmer of the week. Dickman has come very close to the 100-fly record this season and is excited for SUNYACS.
“I’m just hoping to get in some fast swim times and best times. However, I would really love to break the 100-fly school record,” Dickman said. “As a team, we’ve trained hard all season, so we are all anticipating some big swims. We’ve put in a lot of work, so I’m very confident my teammates will have huge time drops.”
The SUNYACS championships will be held in Buffalo, NY at the Flickinger Aquatic Center from February 21st- February 24th.