The home stands shook on Saturday afternoon as the Ephs walked out onto the Samuelson-Muir pool deck. Clapping in sync with each step they took, the women’s swim team team split off from the men to form a circle, huddling to belt out their pre-meet cheers. Their energy carried into the water, as the defending NESCAC champions dominated their season opener tri-meet against Wesleyan and Springfield College, winning 187-105 and 188-95, respectively. 

The women’s swimmers won every event at the meet. But, for the captains, the opener was less about the scoreboard and more about settling into racing as a team. “It’s a meet where we really try to focus on the energy on deck,” co-captain Ruby Groves ’26 said. “[We’re] just focusing on getting back into racing, getting some of the rust off, and really trying to cultivate the team vibe and energy.”

That energy was especially apparent to the first-years, who raced with the team for the first time on Saturday. “Being a senior, something really exciting about the first meet every year is getting to watch the freshmen have their first meet,” co-captain Gracie O’Connell ’26 said. “They brought so much energy. It’s so exciting to see that and [to see] the legacy continuing.” 

Groves echoed the sentiment. “And they swam fast,” she added. “They crushed it.”

One standout performance came from senior Lily Codd ’26, who went 10:22.23 in the 1000 freestyle to win by over 40 seconds. “It was really cool to see,” Nora Sherman ’29 said.

The captains emphasized that much of the team’s success stems from the culture they build around each meet. Saturday’s synchronized-clapping walkout is part of a home-meet tradition that sets the tone before the team even enters the water, according to Groves. Even after the walkout, the ritual doesn’t stop. “We do a [full] team cheer, then the men do a cheer, and the women do our cheer,” O’Connell said. “So we’re doing at least three different cheers for every meet.”

The team spirit prep starts even before race day. The night before every meet, the Ephs gather for snacks and a goal-sharing session — a tradition that helps them focus and stay connected prior to competition, according to O’Connell. “We share goals that we have personally, what we’re excited for, what we’re swimming,” O’Connell said. 

“One thing we always talk about is how important it is to know the team goals and also to know your teammates’ goals,” Groves added. “Everyone knows what everyone’s trying to accomplish. I think that’s really important.”

One of the team’s long-standing goals is to be the loudest on deck. Even during the meet’s longest event, the cheering didn’t stop. “One [tradition] that I like is, ‘stand for the entire 1000.’ We really make it a team sport,” said O’Connell, who took second in the 1000 freestyle. “Everyone is up and cheering, even though we had three heats of it.” 

“Whenever someone finishes and touches the wall we do a clap in sync,” Sherman said, emphasizing the team spirit that remains lively throughout the entire meet.

Groves added that the path to success begins long before these battle cries echo through the pool house, when the Ephs’ captains set the team’s athletic foundation with six weeks of captain-led preseason training. “We start at about 3500 yards of practice, and by the end of preseason, we’re [at] 5500-plus yards per practice,” Groves added. “I think we did a good job with preseason, getting people into shape, and the transition has been fairly smooth.”

Preseason traditions also brought the team together outside of the pool. Each Friday of preseason, instead of practice, the team held “Fun Friday,” where they tried everything from kickball to a slip-and-slide, according to Groves. “The whole team does it together,” O’Connell said. “It’s really important to our team’s successes that everyone knows each other super well and are good friends.” 

On the final day of preseason, the upperclass swimmers unleashed their annual prank: Announcing an unusually difficult workout — usually a dreaded 400 IM set — before stopping the first-years after the first 50 and ending the practice with fun relays, including one where swimmers linked arms each relay lap until they were struggling to make it down the pool as a mass of six, according to Groves. “It’s sort of a joke where we [tell them] we’re going to do this really hard set, and then we just do fun stuff instead,” she said. “We’ve done that every year. It’s a fun way to end [the] preseason.”

For first-year swimmer Maggie Farley ’29, the preseason team-building made an immediate impression. “By the time the season actually started, we had been able to get to know the team really well, which has made training now that we’re in season a lot more enjoyable,” she said.

The camaraderie built through these moments strengthens the team socially and competitively, according to Groves. “That type of environment is a good way to really set the foundation of team cohesion,” she said.

“Even though I have only been here for a few months, the women’s team is super close and is always there to pick each other up and cheer each other on,” Sherman added.

Fueled by Saturday’s dominant opener and the team cohesion built through months of preseason and team traditions, the women now turn their attention to the road ahead — beginning with a home meet against No. 10 Tufts, Trinity, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute this Saturday. “We’re looking forward to hosting a competitive meet against Tufts next weekend, and ultimately hoping to win another NESCAC title this season,” Groves said.