Reflecting on a successful men’s swim season

With its ninth consecutive Midwest Conference (MWC) title, Grinnell men’s swimming and diving already had a successful season. A new banner could be hung in the Russell K. Osgood Natatorium, a photo of last year’s Conference-winning team could be swapped out for one of this year’s and the Pioneers would try to win the Conference title again in the upcoming season. For four swimmers, however, the season was not over yet, as the NCAA Division III championships awaited them. While the Conference championships were held at Grinnell’s own natatorium, the pools of the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, would be uncharted waters. 

The national championships presented a unique opportunity for this group of swimmers, one that head coach Matt Hedman was excited for. Hedman, who took over from longtime head coach Erin Hurley two years ago, won three national swimming championships as an athlete for Denison University. “I think everybody understands what it means to win a Conference championship, but I don’t think they know what it means to qualify for [the] NCAA meet,” Hedman said.

Included in the team of four were Kevin Fitzgerald `25 and Evan Feilmeyer `28, the two top point-earners in the past season for Grinnell. Success is not new to Fitzgerald, who swam his last races in a Grinnell cap in Greensboro on March 22. He has won multiple Conference championships in each of his four years as a Pioneer, and his 200-yard individual medley earned him an NCAA “B” cut, giving him the possibility of competing in the national championships as an individual.

Even with his prior success at the Conference level, everything seemed to click this year for Fitzgerald, who was named the MWC men’s swimmer of the year. “There isn’t really much that I could say went better, because it was by far my best season,” he said. 

Fitzgerald’s results support his claim of success. At the national championships, Fitzgerald became the first Grinnell swimmer in twelve years to earn first-team All-American honors, as he placed eighth in the 400 yard individual medley. Despite having never competed at the national level before, Fitzgerald said he had a strong mindset going in. “If you do the exact same thing you’ve always been doing, you will succeed.”

Fitzgerald already had experience at the collegiate level, but Feilmeyer had no such luxury. As a first year, he competed in the national championships as part of the team and individually in the 200-yard butterfly, where he finished 24th. Feilmeyer, whose brother Adam Feilmeyer `25 is a member of the team as well, said that the national championships presented a new challenge. “I was really nervous,” he said. “I think for next year, I’ll remember, ‘Hey, it’s just a race. It’s an event. You swim this all the time.’” 

Both Hedman and Fitzgerald praised Feilmeyer’s success in his first year. “Evan’s pretty unique, because I feel like he’s very self motivated and has some very high goals for himself,” Hedman said. Hedman also described Feilmeyer as part of a “hard-working” group of first years on the team.

“I am super proud of what he’s put in this season,” Fitzgerald said, commenting on Feilmeyer’s performance. “I haven’t really had to mentor him that much because his mindset is currently very good for a first year.” 

Feilmeyer played his own success down, but said “staying positive” was his greatest strength this year. “I was never really negative. I wasn’t saying anything that would put others down,” he said. 

The success from both ends of the spectrum of experience created an interesting dynamic for the team, according to Hedman. “I think it was really healthy to have that kind of top-end leadership from Kevin as a senior, as well as Evan, and those first years really pushing everybody on the team to achieve more than they thought possible for themselves.” Fitzgerald and Feilmeyer were the only men’s swimmers to reach the 700-point mark this past season.

With Fitzgerald’s upcoming graduation, Grinnell will lose a major contributor to a team that has won nine consecutive MWC titles –– excluding 2021, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pioneers will strive to defend their Conference title in the upcoming season, which begins in the fall 2025 semester.