By Ron Smith
March 2, 2023
 
(COLUMBUS, Ga.) It was another successful day for Westmont Swimming at the NAIA National Championships on Thursday. Warrior swimmers set program records and claimed All-American honors on the second day of competition.
 
In the morning preliminaries, Ella Chaisson qualified for the "A" final in the 200 individual medley relay with the fifth fastest time of 2:07.16. That time was 0.36 seconds slower than the record she set one year ago at the 2022 National Championships.
 
"I think Ella was pretty nervous this morning but wanted to go for it," reported Westmont's head coach Jill Jones Lin. "She has been nursing an injury for a while and how she is feeling has been hit or miss. She hasn't been training to the level that she probably could. She went out this morning and did well. There were some things that could have been better, but it was still a great swim, all things considered.
 
"Then she came back tonight and went from fifth to third in the finals. She absolutely blew away her lifetime best time and school record. It was really impressive. It has been fun to see her mental maturity over these past two year and to see her love racing and love swimming makes me proud of her. She has been super tough and has worked through hard stuff to be able to let go and race."
 
Chaisson posted a finals time of 2:05.34, beating her previous best time by nearly a second and one half and collecting another All-American plaque. She now has nine.
 
"Jill gave me a pep talk before this and told me to swim the 200 IM like it is your last race," said Chaisson. "I took that to heart. Also, Rian (Lewandowski) always asks me, 'How bad do you want it?' Her voice was in the background of my mind the whole race. Both of those pep talks and words really helped me race."
 
"It felt very fast. I ripped off my goggles and looked straight at the board to see what I got. It was an amazing moment to see that I got third place."
 
Qualifying for a spot in the 50 yard freestyle finals was Bailey Lemmon. The senior broke the school record in the preliminaries by finishing the race in a time of 23.97 – her first sub 24 performance. Lemmon tied for seventh place to earn the evening swim. That performance alone was remarkable for a swimmer whose injuries kept her from competing all of her sophomore and junior years.
 
"With Bailey, it has always been wondering what was going to happen," acknowledged Jones Lin. "We were always playing it by ear and unable to dream big about goals and what we want to accomplish. It was so up in the air. The fact that she is swimming, and swimming a whole meet with prelims and finals and relays, was a huge hurdle to get over.
 
"She is killing it every step of the way. She is swimming faster each and every time she swims. She did the same at conference. She is one of the most determined athletes I have ever been around. She really wants to do well and improve and to race."
 
The finals proved to be no exception. This time, she shaved another 0.07 seconds off her time to claim seventh place and earn All-American honors.
 
"My goal was to make the top eight in the 50," said Lemmon. "I am proud of myself for getting there. I wanted to swim my last individual race with all I had. It was a fun race and felt a little faster than this morning and it was. I was really happy with it. It is crazy to think how much time I've dropped in the last month."
 
Asked about what the opportunity to compete at nationals this year meant to her, Lemmon replied, "It is fulfilling all the goals I have set for myself. To be on the first Westmont team in my freshman year was such an honor. I am proud of how the team has built me up, especially during the two years that I was off, and encouraged me to keep chasing my goals. Jill has been especially helpful with that. She inspired me to get to where I am right now."
 
Three swimmers competed in the 500 yard freestyle and while none of them qualified for the finals, Jones Lin expressed her appreciation for them. "Even in the races that didn't make it back, everyone swam so well today and that is all I can ask for. They swam with heart and with passion."
 
Olivia Garrison posted a time of 5:14.05 to finish 20th. Morgan Bienias touched the wall in 5:15.93 to take 24th and Emma Bustamante placed 39th with a time of 5:24.80.
 
The final race of the day – the 200 yard freestyle relay – provided more excitement than expected.
 
"We almost missed it because the timeline shifted as to when we were supposed to go," expressed Jones Lin. "They didn't get much of a warm-up right before. However, they had the adrenaline of trying to get a really tight-fitting tech suit on in 30 seconds. That really helped because they swim really fast.
 
"We have never had a combo be able to all swim 24s. That is what it took to make a school record and place seventh. It took all of them going as fast as they could. A big highlight was that Emma had the fastest split on the relay. She dropped a second from her best time. Seeing Daisy come out and sprint again after yesterday's medley relay was awesome. We can always rely on Big O (Garrison) being able to pull off a really good anchor leg, and she did. It was all around awesome and I'm really glad we made it to the block on time."
 
The quartet of Lemmon, Marquardt, Bustamante and Garrison recorded a school record time of 1:37.76 to sew up a seventh place finish."
 
The Warriors are currently in seventh place in the team standings with 96 points. Last year, the Warriors finished in ninth place.
 
Tomorrow, Westmont swimmers will compete in the 400 yard individual medley, the 100 yard butterfly, the 200 yard freestyle, the 100 yard breaststroke and the 400 yard medley relay.