10 minutes is a long time to be alone with your thoughts.
Colorado State swimming and diving sophomore Quinn Whorley owned all 10 of them.
In the 1,000-yard freestyle event of the double-dual against Washington State and Colorado Mesa, the sophomore grabbed onto the team’s first win. With a time of 10:23.77, Whorley finished almost four seconds ahead of CMU swimmer Hanna Sasivarevic, who entered the meet seeded first.
Whorley’s mind didn’t wander for any of those 1o minutes spent in the water.
“I like to think about going out with confidence— that’s kind of my new thing this year,” Whorley said. “When I’m in the race, I have a race plan that I really like to execute. It has to do with turns and strokes and all things.”
That plan and confidence took over, especially because the race had already been mapped out through a 20-hour practice week.
“I feel like any time that I can execute my plan it works out well for me,” Whorley said. “Being confident in my training is a really big thing.”
Whorley wasn’t completely alone for those 10 minutes, as former teammate Erin Dawson not only counted the 1,000-yard freestyle, but also the 500-yard freestyle. Whorley finished fourth in the 500 with a time of 5:07.75, knocking nearly five seconds from her seed time.
Whorley’s 1,000-yard victory was one of nine wins for CSU, with seven coming in the pool and two off the diving board. The Rams came away with a double win, defeating WSU 149-145 and CMU 204-96. The dual victory comes a year after the Rams won just two races during their dual against WSU last season.
Senior Tess Whineray had both those wins last year, and secured them again this year during the 100 and 200-yard backstroke. The team’s breakout underclassmen also found their way to wins, with Kayda Geyer coming away victorious in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley.
After not winning either of her races last weekend, Evie Munz found herself taking the 200-yard butterfly title.
“I always preach, like, all in, and we needed that depth today,” head coach Christopher Woodard said. “But the bottom line is you have to have big dogs that show up, and our big dogs showed up.”
Even with a long-standing rivalry between CSU and WSU, the meet wasn’t centered on that.
“There’s something to be said for that mental aspect for our team,” Woodard said. “Like, hey, this is our spot. We’re going to blow it up. It was less about trying to avenge a loss or getting even. It was more okay. Let’s put on the suits and see how fast we can go.”
In just their second meet, the Rams raced in tech suits— making a choice to wear their best uniform.
“I’ve been an advocate of this for the last decade, you know, we don’t see football players put on special pads or helmets for a bowl game, they’re always wearing the top line equipment.” Woodward said. “I think that’s where we’re finding our sport, especially with our sprinters, and we want to give them opportunities to be at their best early in the season. As long as all coaches agree, we’re going to suit up.”
Even with the tech suit armor, the Rams weren’t ignorant as to who they were up against.
“We know they are a tough team, and it’s gonna be a race (until) the finish,” sophomore Gabby Hall said. “It’s really just the mindset. The whole team being like, ‘we can do this, and this is what we’re working for.’ Not giving up on ourselves before we even get here, it is a fight the whole way, and we just like have to remember that the whole thing.”
And to keep that fight going: a chant. “Ramily Relays.”
“’It’s just a positive thing for us to do when all the girls are back there about to race and, like, knowing that your teammates are there watching you,” Hall said. “It’s really nice to hear.”
That is exactly what Woodard wanted his team to take away from this meet.
“Rivals shouldn’t be there to scare you,” Woodard said. “They should motivate you.”
It wasn’t just those on the blocks using that rivalry motivation, as three athletes on the boards had standout performances.
Diver Sydney Oveson won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events, hitting a zone-qualifying mark.
Not only is this season about conference, it’s also about confidence.
“My goals are just to get my confidence up and work on my mental side of everything,” Ovesen said.
Saturday shows proof that confidence is key.
“I felt a lot of relief just knowing that I’m able to execute these dives that I’ve been struggling with,” Oveson said. “(It) makes you feel super good about yourself (and) the vibes were really high on deck today, so that was really helpful.”
Even with the shared pool space and divers waiting for swimmers to take their marks, the Rams found their rhythm.
“It definitely throws you off,” Ovesen said. “Especially with the whistles going all the time. If the whistle goes off, we have to wait for them, or if we’re walking down the board, they have to wait for us. It’s kind of like trying to find that balance (but) I think it goes really well when we find a rhythm that works really well.”
And once it was found, there was no one to stop sophomores Ovesen, Juliana Dodd and Jackie Oh, who placed first, second and third in the 3-meter. The trio also placed first, second and fifth in the 1-meter.
One meet at a time, confidence will grow and race strategies will solidify through hard work all the way to the Pac-12 championships.
For the green and gold it was all about confidence at Saturday’s meet and, for those ten minutes, Whorley owned it.
“I’m taking a lot of confidence out of today,” Whorley said. “Hopefully I can channel that into our next race.”
Reach Abigail Wood at sports@collegian.com or on social media @Abigaiil_Wood.
