For most members of the University club swim team, swimming is more than a hobby — it is a way of life.
Their dedication paid off at their first, large-scale invitational Saturday at the Princeton University Invitational, where the team placed third out of nine.
Three members — School of Arts and Sciences junior Kyle Madison, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy sophomore Andy Sheu and School of Arts and Sciences sophomore Sam Corbett — finished in the top five of their respective races.
This meet was an important milestone for the relatively new club team, said Madison, the team’s president. Although the team has been to a few small meets, this large invitational helped put the team on the radar.
“Even though we’re such a new team, we have incredibly dedicated and hardworking members,” Madison said. “They definitely deserve this.”
Madison and alumnus Daniel Castellanos founded the team last semester.
“We knew that there was no more varsity team, but we still wanted to swim and compete,” Castellanos said.
The team hosted its first home meet in October, Madison said. The University’s team placed second overall. Club teams from The College of New Jersey, University of Connecticut and Princeton University came to the University to compete.
The team also placed first at a meet in Villanova University and fifth in a meet at the University of Maryland, Madison said.
While competition is a good motivator for the team members, most of them use their hour-long practices as a way to unwind, Public Relations Officer Corey Herbst-Gervasoni said.
“All my days are filled with classes, studying and more studying. The one thing I get to look forward to is that one hour I get to be in the pool,” Sheu said.
Herbst-Gervasoni, a Rutgers College senior, knew the Rutgers men’s swimming team would be cut when he started at the University, but thinks the club swim team is a better way to continue his passion for swimming, he said.
Members of the team love to swim, but they do not feel the pressure associated with being members of a Division I team, Herbst-Gervasoni said.
Another advantage to the club is that it is student-run, so there are no coaches putting pressure on participants, said Hollyn de Vries, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.
“Personally, I love that it is a stress-free zone, where you can make a lot of friends and be involved in something great,” she said.
Different team members have different reasons for joining, De Vries said.
“People come to practice every day because they want to swim, not because they have to because of scholarships, or their parents or coaches,” Madison said.
About 90 percent of the team’s members swam in high school teams, Sheu said, and one-third swam in club teams in high school.
“Since we’re peer-coached, we get to learn even more since everyone has a different swimming style and coaching background,” he said.
Although most members do have a background in competitive swimming, the club is open to people of all levels, Madison said.
For Madison, it is the drive of competition that has him addicted to swimming.
“That’s the reason I come out every day — I need to get better,” Madison said.
All the members are good friends, with no cliques or special groups dividing them, Herbst-Gervasoni said.
“Every practice is a good time, every meet is filled with really funny memories,” he said.
The team practices Monday through Thursday, from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Sonny Werblin Recreation Center pool on Busch campus.
“We’re here because we love swimming,” De Vries said. “[We] welcome anyone else who shares our passion.”