More than 400 swimmers from 14 schools are all fiercely competing in a sport that tests one’s speed, endurance and grace. This one-day event, a fight to find out which school is the best of the best, is taking place at NC State this Saturday and is completely student-run. It’s the Raleighwood Invitational, an all-day swim meet hosted by NC State club swimming.
This is the fourth year NC State club swimming has hosted the Raleighwood Invitational. According to Courtney Like-Mathews, a senior studying science education and co-president of NC State club swimming, the meet is growing in size with the amount of swimmers and teams attending increasing from last year by 120 more swimmers and five more schools,
The club swimming team has 118 official members and placed ninth in Nationals of the 74 teams last year. Like-Matthews said the club team was named Executive Team of the Year, as well as was in the running for Sport Club of the Year, by NC State Club Sports.
“We’re like one big family of swimmers,” Like-Mathews said. “We focus on making friends, staying fit and having a lot of fun.”
NC State club swimming is more than just having fun, however. The 118-person club practices three times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Carmichael Gym pool. At practices, members are allowed to pick from either the normal level of practice, which is a series of different workouts that equal about 1,700 yards, or a more advanced workout that can amount to about 3,000 yards.
The club practices for meets like the Raleighwood Invitational and plans to swim in nine different meets during the fall and spring, including Nationals, where club swimming teams across the country compete in Atlanta. Last year, the club won fifth place in Women’s Nationals while competing against 74 different teams.
“We pride ourselves on having swimmers of all abilities,” Like-Mathews said. “We brought [to Nationals] swimmers who had not been the greatest of swimmers and swimmers who have been swimming all their lives. With this team, we got fifth in the nation.”
Like-Matthews and fellow club member Michael Ross, a senior studying anthropology and psychology said that what makes NC State club swimming different than the NC State swim team is that club swimming is a lot less serious.
“We focus more on fun and team bonding than actually winning meets,” Like-Mathews said. “We can still have a competitive atmosphere, though. The freshmen this year have taken up their own lane and are working really hard, swimming over 3,000 yards per practice.”
Like-Mathews said the club’s large size is due to the inclusiveness of the club, as well as the club’s large presence at RecFest.
Ross and Like-Mathews said the club members often meet outside of practice informally to eat together, go to the gym together and play games together outside the pool.
“It’s really just one massive family,” Ross said. “I really, truly felt that I belonged at NC State after I joined club swimming.”
Between meets, club swimming is involved with community service. The club team is in the preliminary stages of planning various community service events such as collecting canned food and a special swim meet planned for a pajama drive.
On Jan. 29, the club will hold a swim meet along with Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill where swimmers are required to donate three pairs of pajamas instead of paying meet fees. All of the collected pajamas will be donated to UNC Children’s Hospital.
Students interested in joining club swimming are encouraged to come to a practice and talk to a club officer. Potential new members are allowed to try out for the team for a week or two before becoming an official member. This allows interested students to see if they like the club before having to pay.
Like-Mathews said while the club has no official coaches because it is entirely student-run, there are several members of the club who teach swim lessons or coach swimmers outside of club swimming, and they are more than willing to help out a beginner.
Students interested in supporting club swimming can come cheer them on at Raleighwood Invitational Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. The meet will feature universities from across the East Coast, such as the University of Virginia, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, James Madison University and the University of Central Florida, as well as North Carolina universities like East Carolina University and UNC-Wilmington.
Not only does the club swimming practices include swimming laps in the pool, but “drylands” as well to do core training. The club team is student-led and has 114 members.
