Editor’s note: Changes have been made to properly reflect a misspelled surname.

On a Friday afternoon in early October, Colorado State began their swim and dive season in Laramie, Wyoming, with a Border War battle. Despite the meet being held in a high school natatorium, the atmosphere was insane.

The meet began with the 200-yard medley relay with the Rams swimming in the even lanes. CSU started off strong in the first leg and was able to hold the lead, winning the event with a time of 1:42.44, beating Wyoming by just over two seconds.

With a fiery start for the Rams, the next event was the 1000-yard freestyle, which provided a longer break before the next event. Wyoming led the entire race, with UW’s Maisyn Klimczak winning the event by a noticeable four seconds.

The Rams were coming off their previous season with an unbeaten dual-meet streak of 23 meets. CSU head coach Christopher Woodard‘s focus for the team this year is rebuilding. After losing a strong senior squad and gaining a solid set of freshman, it was time for the Rams to figure out what worked with this new squad.

“We really preached that this season wasn’t going to be defined by dual-meet wins and losses,” Woodard said. “With so many newcomers in, we need to see what our lineup looks like. We need to develop our race strategy and our toughness.”

The 200 freestyle brought a Wyoming win followed closely by the Rams in second, but the 100 backstroke brought a CSU win for first. Following the event, the scores were Cowgirls 47 and Rams 27.

Following a somewhat disappointing 100 breaststroke that resulted in a Wyoming sweep of first and second, the 200 butterfly brought a Rams’ first and third place. That momentum was sent the Rams into the 50 free with Lexie Trietley and Megan Hager taking first and second.

At the first break for diving, the Rams were only barely trailing the Cowgirls 79-71. Despite having fewer divers, the Rams were able to show up and pull out some incredible dives.

Swim and dive meets are unlike any other Division I sport at CSU. Divers can be seen socializing with other members from opposing teams, and after most events, swimmers will give handshakes to their opponents. The sense of respect, sportsmanship and camaraderie in this sport compared to others is remarkable. 

Following the break, the 100 freestyle was up, with Trietley getting speed from a faster stroke rate compared to the Wyoming swimmers. It was a close race, but the Cowgirls out-touched the Rams for first by only .03 seconds.

“Let’s be comfortable being uncomfortable.” -Christopher Wooward, CSU swim and dive head coach

The depth of the Wyoming roster was obvious, with many events requiring a second heat of just Wyoming swimmers. It was also clear the Cowgirls were simply quicker, whether that was on the starts, turns or underwaters; the Rams were getting outpaced.

“(Wyoming has) obviously done their homework,” Woodard said. “They showed up. This is a stronger, deeper team than maybe they’ve been in the past.”

Despite having an early lead, it was clear that Maya White started off too quickly for her 500 freestyle. In only the last 50 yards, White lost the lead to the Cowgirls, dropping the total score to 154-110.

The 400 individual medley had fans on their feet with CSU’s Erin Dawson and Sydney VanOvermeiren winning the heat in the last 100 yards after trailing Wyoming by a near body length.

With the Rams trailing, it came down to the final event to see if CSU could pull out the win. The 400 freestyle relay had fans pumped up, with Wyoming’s A relay starting off with a solid lead.

Despite all attempts from the Rams to recover the lead, the Cowgirls extended the lead and effectively snapped the Rams’ 23 meet unbeaten streak with a final score of 171-121.

“There was a little bit from them of having the winning streak weighing on them,” Woodard said. “Now we’ve kind of got that monkey off our back, it’s now just preparing (for) each of those dual meets.”

The upcoming schedule for the Rams involves a lot of travel to the East Coast, competing against teams like Old Dominion and Miami, which is going to make it hard to succeed. However, that’s exactly what Woodward wants.

“The main thing is to experience new destinations,” Woodard said. “Going to Charlotte and facing a very tough Queens team, going to Florida and facing Gulf Coast and Miami.”

The Rams’ next meet is at home Oct. 13-14 at the Edora Pool and Ice Center against Air Force and New Mexico.

“That’s my goal: responding to new challenges,” Woodard said. “Let’s be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

Reach Emma Askren at easkren@collegian.com or on Twitter @emma_askren.