Swimming World presents the video series called the Ross Report. It is a semi-weekly series where our head video producer Andy Ross will travel around the country to tell the stories of the swimmers and divers you don’t know much about.
Previous Ross Report episodes:
- Ep. #1: Kaersten Meitz
- Ep. #2: Zane Grothe
- Ep. #3: Division II Indianapolis
- Ep. #4: Robert Howard
- Ep. #5: Georgia Tech
This week’s episode focuses on the Williams Swimming and Diving team that came to the International Swimming Hall of Fame to train over their holiday break the week before Christmas.
The Ephs are one of the best teams in Division III as the women came up fourth in the latest CSCAA poll that came out last week.
Ross caught up with sophomores Molly Craig and Laura Westphal, along with junior Caroline White to give a “state of the program” type analysis on the deck in a windy Fort Lauderdale.
Last season, Craig was the NCAA Champion in the 400 IM and Westphal was national champion in the 500 and 1650. White was an All-American in three events for the Ephs, placing as high as second in the 200 breast at NCAAs last year.
Craig, Westphal and White talked about how they ended up at Williams, as well as some things that stand out to them that makes Williams such a special team.
The three women also talked about the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) and why it is such a special conference in Division III. All of the athletes of the NESCAC do a collective cheer at NCAAs (see below) and they all bond and seem to work as one when they aren’t competing against each other. So why is the conference so particularly close?
Per NESCAC rules, Williams is not allowed to start official practice until November 1, and they talked about what the benefits to starting the season so late can be.
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