By Ron Smith
October 15, 2023
 
(MALIBU, Calif.) Westmont Swimming made its annual pilgrimage to Malibu to participate in the Rodionoff Invitational at Pepperdine University. The Warriors have made this trip in all five years of the program's existence.
 
"The team has been putting in some really great work at practice and came into this meet fatigued," reported Westmont's head coach Jill Lin. "That didn't stop them from rising up and swimming fast. Abigail Rickard had a great meet, swimming within seconds of her lifetime best times and amazing breaststroke legs on the 400 and 200 medley relays. Abby is super consistent and really someone we can count on for great breaststroke swims."
 
Rickard posted a time of 2:38.18 to finish fifth in the 200 yard breaststroke and 1:13.12 for a third place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke.
 
Westmont's Ella Chaisson won the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:29.74. She placed second in the 200 yard individual medley, posting a time of 2:13.66. Chaisson claimed third place in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.68 and fourth in the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 2:12.93.
 
"Olivia Garrison swam a stellar 1000 free, going a lifetime best time and had a great relay split in the 400 yard medley relay," said Lin.
 
Garrison completed the 1000 yard freestyle in a time of 11:08.48 and finished fourth in the event. She also had a fourth-place finish in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:24.51.
 
"We had quite a few swimmers swim events for the first time ever or in a very long time and they all really thrived," noted Lin. "Emma Robinson (11:50.17) and Grace McAnear (11:20.35) in the 1000 free, Hannah DeSoto (2:40.32) and Allison McDougal (2:31.39) in the 200 butterfly and Leah Nieman (2:22.83) in the 200 backstroke. Willow Pezone swam an awesome 200 free (2:03.00) in the first heat on the second day and Grace McAnear had a great 500 free (5:29.21), swimming just off her lifetime best time."
 
Emma Bustamante notched a fourth place finish in the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 2:22.13.
 
As a team, the Warriors finished in third place with 175 points. Azusa Pacific placed second with 189 points and Concordia won the event with 422 points.
 
"Overall, it was a great meet for us," offered Lin. "It is really good to see everyone race and get a better idea of how we can improve before our mid-season meet. I'm really proud of how supportive they are of each other, it is such a fun group of women and I'm excited to see them develop this season."
 
The Warriors' next event will be the Intrasquad Maroon versus White Meet on Friday, October 27. The event, which begins at 4:00 p.m. at the Westmont pool, is open to the public.