In a weekend of many firsts at the Big 12 Conference swimming and diving Championships, perhaps none was as dramatic as the Missouri women’s team’s victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Competing against Texas and Texas A&M, teams that boast both impressive depth and overwhelming talent, was perhaps the team’s biggest challenge of the season.
The relay team of seniors Shara Stafford and Lisa Nathanson, junior Cassie Cunningham and freshman Emily Doucette took the challenge in stride, though, turning in a time that would trump all in school history.
The Missouri girls finished the race with a time of 1:28.23 that currently ranks as the third fastest time in the country.
“I think we had a lot of excitement going into that relay,” senior Lisa Nathanson said. “When you put four people together that believe in what they’re doing and have a lot of momentum you can accomplish a lot with that.”
Nathanson considered the women’s 200m freestyle relay to be the best relay on the entire team. If ever there were a chance to stick it to the Aggies and Longhorns, this was it.
In one of the most anticipated races on day two of the weeklong meet, the Tigers flew off to a great start. It became quickly apparent that the girls were ready for the challenge, and on the race’s second leg the Tigers had pulled ahead of the Aggies.
One lane over, though, was a Texas team that seemed ready to ruin the Tigers’ title hopes.
When Nathanson, the team’s anchor, jumped in for the final 50 yards, the Longhorns held a slight advantage over the rest of the field. Nathanson turned in a swim that very well could have defined her career, beating the Texas swimmer Kelsey Amundsen to the wall by a close .14 seconds.
“I just wanted to hop out of the pool really fast and go hug my teammates,” Nathanson said. “That’s the first thing I thought.”
The Big 12 relay title displayed the incredible amount of depth in the Tiger squad. Coach Greg Rhodenbaugh said depth is something the team has in multitude when it comes to freestyle sprinting.
Overall, he said he was very pleased with the result.
“That’s the first time we’ve ever won a relay that anyone knows about in the Big 12,” Rhodenbaugh said. “That was pretty special, and we thought we had a chance to win it. I’m really glad the girls did.”
Rhodenbaugh wasn’t completely congratulatory, though, and was quick to point out some things that need improvement.
“We had some slow takeovers, one blown turn and we had two people who aren’t rested,” Rhodenbaugh said. “One of the girls could probably go four- or five-tenths faster, and the other one could probably (drop) a couple tenths. We could average under 22 flat, which puts you in a very elite level.”
Fix those things and this already record-breaking team could be even better, Rhodenbaugh said.
As the team heads to the NCAA Championships later in March, improving the minute details will become the primary training focus. Any small improvement will help, as the team will square off against the best of the best for a shot at the title for the best relay in the nation.
