For Georgetown this weekend, what seemed like another mediocre finish was actually among the most momentous days in the history of a fledgling program.

The Hoya men’s swimming and diving team took eighth and the women ninth in an 11-team field at the three-day Patriot Invitational in Fairfax, Va. Yet three school records were broken by two Georgetown swimmers, and the team came away with more Big East qualifications than it has seen in a single season.

“If you look at our place finish, it doesn’t look like we did all that well, yet going up against many great scholarship programs, I think we did really well,” Head Coach Bethany Bower said. “It was a really, really fast meet – probably just as fast as the Big East Championships. Just to make it back was pretty tough.”

With four new women’s qualifiers – senior captain Katie Amaro, junior Liz Nugent, senior captain Corinne Rhodes and junior Laura Sytnyk – and two men’s – freshman David Ballinger and senior Heath Walden – the Hoyas amassed six qualifications for a total record of nine at the season’s halfway point.

Freshman Goran Bistric and senior captain Jon Hayden added a few new events to the qualifications they had already earned. Hayden broke his own school records in the 1000- and 1650-yard freestyle, while Bistric swam the 200-yard backstroke in 1:54.62, nearly a second better than the only standing record from before Bower’s tenure as head coach.

Bower said she was particularly impressed with the finishes by Hayden and eighth-place, one-meter diver Kelcey Moore, as they were earned against “a very competitive field.” Hayden’s time of 16:14.64 was good enough for seventh at the meet, and he shaved a full eight seconds off of his previous best.

“This is one small indication that our team is getting stronger,” Bower said. “Last year we had three qualifiers for the Big East. This year we have nine, and the season is just half over.”

For now, satisfaction with a seventh-place finish is as defining a feature as any for a non-scholarship team hoping to stay afloat in the Big East. For 2006, the ambitions are the same, but not without more serious preparation.

The next month and a half are “critical training times for us,” Bower said. The swimmers and divers will cut their Christmas break short and return Dec. 30. Before the second half of the season starts in January, the team will embark on a trip to Puerto Rico, which sounds a little less fun when one considers the five-hour training sessions they’ll face each day.

Hard work has defined the Hoyas’ 2005-06 season, just as it certainly defined the Patriot Invitational.

“It’s hard to understand we [swam] for three days, prelims and finals each day. The divers [were] there for about eight hours each day,” Bower said. “It’s intense, it’s draining, but these kids really stood tall, and I think that’s really something to be proud of.”

For Georgetown this weekend, what seemed like another mediocre finish was actually among the most momentous days in the history of a fledgling program.

The Hoya men’s swimming and diving team took eighth and the women ninth in an 11-team field at the three-day Patriot Invitational in Fairfax, Va. Yet three school records were broken by two Georgetown swimmers, and the team came away with more Big East qualifications than it has seen in a single season.

“If you look at our place finish, it doesn’t look like we did all that well, yet going up against many great scholarship programs, I think we did really well,” Head Coach Bethany Bower said. “It was a really, really fast meet – probably just as fast as the Big East Championships. Just to make it back was pretty tough.”

With four new women’s qualifiers – senior captain Katie Amaro, junior Liz Nugent, senior captain Corinne Rhodes and junior Laura Sytnyk – and two men’s – freshman David Ballinger and senior Heath Walden – the Hoyas amassed six qualifications for a total record of nine at the season’s halfway point.

Freshman Goran Bistric and senior captain Jon Hayden added a few new events to the qualifications they had already earned. Hayden broke his own school records in the 1000- and 1650-yard freestyle, while Bistric swam the 200-yard backstroke in 1:54.62, nearly a second better than the only standing record from before Bower’s tenure as head coach.

Bower said she was particularly impressed with the finishes by Hayden and eighth-place, one-meter diver Kelcey Moore, as they were earned against “a very competitive field.” Hayden’s time of 16:14.64 was good enough for seventh at the meet, and he shaved a full eight seconds off of his previous best.

“This is one small indication that our team is getting stronger,” Bower said. “Last year we had three qualifiers for the Big East. This year we have nine, and the season is just half over.”

For now, satisfaction with a seventh-place finish is as defining a feature as any for a non-scholarship team hoping to stay afloat in the Big East. For 2006, the ambitions are the same, but not without more serious preparation.

The next month and a half are “critical training times for us,” Bower said. The swimmers and divers will cut their Christmas break short and return Dec. 30. Before the second half of the season starts in January, the team will embark on a trip to Puerto Rico, which sounds a little less fun when one considers the five-hour training sessions they’ll face each day.

Hard work has defined the Hoyas’ 2005-06 season, just as it certainly defined the Patriot Invitational.

“It’s hard to understand we [swam] for three days, prelims and finals each day. The divers [were] there for about eight hours each day,” Bower said. “It’s intense, it’s draining, but these kids really stood tall, and I think that’s really something to be proud of.”