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First-year Becky Taylor is new on campus and has been swimming for quite some time. While swimming was a big reason for her arrival at Hamline it was not the only reason. “I work better on a tight schedule and swimming makes one for me,” she said. Making sure their schedules are “tight”, the women of the team are hard at work under the tutelege of a new head coach.

Before coming to Hamline, Paul Waas Jr. was assistant coach for the swimming and diving program at SUNY-Oswego (State University of New York at Oswego). Contrary to his boyish appearance, Waas is a veteran coach. Waas has coached swimmers to 37 YMCA state championships, and 16 to YMCA All-American honors.

In addition to being a coach, Waas has years of first hand swimming experience under his belt. While a student at SUNY-Oswego, Waas was a two-year captain and 14-time conference finalist.

“I came to Hamline because the MIAC conference is one of the most competitive and best conferences in the Midwest D-III” Waas said.

This team has an advantage this year. Part of the team’s edge is its youth. Of the 17 swimmers and divers, seven are first-years. “We have a really young team,” Waas said. “Usually when there is a coaching change you don’t anticipate a lot of first-years coming in. But we have a ton,” said Waas.

This could prove to be a deciding factor for a team who are hampered by the small number of swimmers and divers on the team in years past. “We have 17 women on the roster. But ideally we would want a team within the low-to-mid 20’s.”

One of Waas’s main goals is to turn an already thriving swimming and diving community at Hamline into a powerhouse. “I want to show students who are looking at coming here that we are a strong team,” Waas said. Through improving the public image of the swimming and diving team Waas hopes to gain divers. The typical team would have three divers, “Right now we have one diver on the women’s section.” Waas said.

This poses a serious problem for Waas come MIAC championship in February. “You can bring a maximum of 18 athletes with you to the MIAC championship. And in MIAC rules, three divers count to one athlete.

The attendance for the women’s team has been higher than expected. “The bleachers have been packed,” Waas said. “We had a quad meet recently, where four teams compete at the same event, and of Macalester, Augsburg and St. Mary’s, almost all of the attendees were rooting for Hamline.”

The team has only three home meets this year. “It’s just how it worked out this year. Some years some schools host a bunch and others they do not,” Waas said. Despite the prospect of competing in foreign waters, Waas is confident in the caliber of his athletes. “They are a great group of kids.” Waas said. Taylor agrees, “We are one big group of goofy crazy people.” With camaraderie on their side and and experienced coaching, the women of swimming and diving have their eyes on the MIAC championship.

The next home meet is December 16 against University of Wisconsin-River Falls.