A younger Grinnell College swimming and diving team will look to build on its historic 2024–25 success, while trying to build an audience and energy for home swim meets. The 2024-25 season was the first time in 34 years Grinnell had sent a relay team to the Division III National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships.
Head Coach Matt Hedman has led the team since 2023. During his tenure, Grinnell’s men and women’s teams have not lost the Midwest Conference swimming championship. The last time a non-Grinnell team won the championship was the Lake Forest College women’s team in 2020. Neither the men’s nor the women’s championship was held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new challenge this year will be the lack of fourth-year swimmers on the men’s team. There is only one fourth-year man, Rommin Adl `26. But the lack of leaders has not hurt the team, according to Coach Hedman.
“Obviously, it’s great when you have a large senior class and a lot of people you can rely on with experience, but we have a lot of really strong leaders that are just a little bit younger,” Hedman said.
As a result, two third years, Keely Yeager `27 and Samora Lumonya `27, along with Adl, have been elected captains.
“It’s not so much the leaders doing everything,” said Lumonya. “A lot of the second-year men are doing really well making the first years feel welcome and at home.”
Both Hedman and Lumonya pointed to Jack Cerone `28 as a second-year swimmer who has stepped up. First-year swimmer Nina Lyons `29 also noticed Cerone’s leadership qualities, along with his positivity during practice.
Hedman is continuing to look for ways to challenge his young team. This season, Grinnell will go to a midseason meet at the University of Chicago. Hedman said that he expects the competition, which also includes New York University, to be elite. NYU was ranked third in men’s swimming and second in women’s swimming in the final College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) top 25 poll during the 2024-25 season. University of Chicago was ranked fourth and seventh in the same poll. Grinnell was unranked.
“Being in a new environment and just having really elite competition, I think, is going to prepare us really well for the end of the year with Conference and nationals,” Hedman said.
“I’m really excited for Chicago,” Lyons said. “It’ll be some good competition, but it will be fun.”
Hedman is also trying to build excitement for home meets. At the Scarlet and Black intersquad meet on Friday, Oct. 3, Grinnell alumni were in the stands. Hedman said the energy the alumni brought was meaningful.
“There’s a better environment here than some of our dual meets,” Hedman told the team during the meet. “I think part of it was the alum cheering them on,” Hedman later told the S&B. “But also just the team creating that kind of positive energy. It spreads very easily on a pool deck.”
While most of the Grinnell home meets occur during college academic breaks, a Friday night meet against Coe College will occur while class is in session on Nov. 14. Hedman hopes that students and family who attend the meet will participate in a blackout, where attendees wear all black, to cheer on the team.
“I think that the team would really appreciate a loud crowd, loud support,” Hedman said.
Lumonya said he believes that fans aren’t the only way the team can build energy.
“I think we’re going to do a pretty good job of supporting ourselves until the big crowds come in,” Lumonya said. “I do think that regardless of who you are on the team, you can always look on deck and at least find one person that you’re really, really happy to see.”
Part of that comes from the strong community the team has, according to Lyons. “It’s been a great environment mental health wise.”
The Grinnell swim team’s first official meet will be Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18 against Colorado College and Augustana College at the Russell K. Osgood Natatorium. The home meet and planned fan blackout against Coe College will occur on Friday, Nov. 14 at the natatorium. These Friday night meets start at 6 p.m.
Correction: This article has been updated to correctly attribute Beth Mitchell in its photos.
