Years in the future, someone scouring Chapman’s athletic records books might find it odd that the swim team had just one meet in 2021. 

But to the program, after a year being kept out of the pool and in masks, that only made it more special.

On April 10, Chapman’s swim team walked into the University of Redlands with booming speakers and high adrenaline to participate in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) tri-meet, alongside California Lutheran University and Redlands. Stakes were high, with it being the only day the team would compete in 2021. But Chapman saw several strong performances amid a general relief to be back at a meet.

“The team energy was really good,” said freshman Marah Kane. “Everyone was just so happy to be there and grateful that we got at least one meet this season.”

Kane and sophomore Riley Brownfield notched first-place finishes in the 200-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle, respectively. 

Over the past few months, with Chapman not spending much time in the Zee Allred Aquatics Center pool due to COVID-19 regulations, Kane worked on her form at the facilities of SoCal Aquatics — her club team in high school — while Brownfield joined the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine for regular reps.

Brownfield felt pressure heading into April 10, knowing she’d have just one shot to go against competition this season. 

“My mindset going into this meet was that I just have to leave everything on the pool deck and give it all I’ve got, because there is no, ‘Oh, next weekend,’” Brownfield said. “This was one and done, so I tried to go out there with 110% and make sure that mentally I was in gear and ready to perform the best that I could.” 

On the other hand, despite the altered regimen, Kane couldn’t have been happier with her performance.

“I went in with no expectations of how I was going to do, because I’ve gotten a lot less training than I usually did, but I was really pleased with my results,” Kane said. “I was right on top of my best times — only a few seconds off — so that makes me really hopeful for next season.” 

Head coach Dennis Ploessel is also hopeful for next season, given what he feels was an impressive performance from his team. 

“I think we’ve built and really stayed together as a group,” Ploessel said. “This team is very close for not having a lot of consistent training through this time period and not having a whole lot of meets. The team unity is outstanding, and that will definitely carry over for next year.” 

While the Panthers have no more official meets scheduled for this season, they will be holding an intrasquad meet in the coming weeks to honor the team’s seniors. Nonetheless, this lone event appears to be enough to tide some swimmers over until the following season. 

“It definitely makes me really hungry for more meets and a full season where we can come back strong and fully taper,” Brownfield said. “It’s a bummer that we won’t have that experience, but given the circumstances, I’m happy with our performance.”