Members of the St. Thomas swim and dive team received two TicketSmarter Summit League Swimmer of the Week awards this month, with first-year swimmer Elizabeth Bonneville receiving the Women’s Swimmer of the Week award on Nov. 22 and senior diver Peyton Ekman being awarded Women’s Diver of the Week on Nov. 2.
Bonneville received the award following her performance in the JoAnn Andregg Invitational where the Tommies hosted the St. Cloud State Huskies and the University of Minnesota State Mavericks in a two-day competition Nov. 12-13. She placed first in the 100 yard freestyle, with a time of :52.30, beating her previous best time by 1.2 seconds.
“My 100 free was pretty good; I got a best time, which is great, and then I got another best time in the relay,” Bonneville said. “I’m hoping to swim it again to see if I can maybe go faster.”
Ekman, who placed third in the diving portion of the JoAnn Andregg Invitational, scoring 232.65 points on the first day and 399.40 points on the second, regards the award as a confidence boost for the rest of her season.
“I was excited,” Ekman said. “It was definitely a motivator to keep me going through the season and show that I can live up to these awards, and I still have some time left to make exciting things happen this season.”
Ekman, who is in her fourth year with the Tommies, said that competition has been more intense since leaving the MIAC and Division III competition.
“It’s been exciting for me to keep pushing myself to get better and to meet a lot of new people and divers,” Ekman said. “It’s been cool getting to see some really good competition.”
However, what hasn’t changed is the team’s chemistry, which Bonneville immediately noticed upon joining the team.
“Our team atmosphere is super cool; we’re family,” Bonneville said. “We’re just super supportive of each other and so seeing people at the end of my lane or on the side (of the pool) when I finish or when I’m swimming, it’s just an amazing feeling.”
That feeling is shared with seniors like Ekman, who also spoke to the team’s chemistry.
“I really love the team, and we always say we’re a family and it really shows. We have really great, supportive teammates and coaches,” Ekman said.
The St. Thomas swim and dive team is now about halfway through its season and is looking ahead toward regional competitions. Ekman, who is a three-time Division III conference champion, will join swimmers like Bonneville in DI championship competition for the first time.
“I’m hoping to place top eight at conference in all my events.” Bonneville said. “I was hoping to get a pretty good feel of college swimming just in general considering it’s my first season.”
The Tommies compete next at the Rochester Invitational hosted by Saint Cloud State University on Dec. 3-5, in Rochester, Minn.
Owen Larson can be reached at lars6521@stthomas.edu.