2023-24 Men's and Women's Swim Preview

COLUMBIA, Ky. – The 2023-24 Lindsey Wilson men's and women's swim season is on track to begin this weekend at the Holloway Natatorium with the 11th Annual Dr. Dillery Fall Frenzy. The Blue Raiders enter the new campaign on the heels of a perfect dual-meet effort during last season, but according to head coach Alicia Kemnitz, that feat will not be as easy this time.

"I completely revamped our schedule and made it much more difficult in every way I could," explained Kemnitz. "Our swimmers need to compete against other top swimmers, and our schedule last year did not afford us many of those opportunities."

Preparing to embark on her 14th season at the helm of the Lindsey Wilson swimming program, Kemnitz and her staff have consistently produced high-caliber and nationally competitive teams and individuals. In preparation for the highest stage, the Blue Raiders will face the likes of Indiana Wesleyan University and the University of the Cumberlands, two institutions that have been one-two at the last five Mid-South Conference women's swimming and diving championships and have won a combined eight conference championships on the men's side.

Lindsey Wilson will also tackle a tough test in November when it travels to Gambier, Ohio for the Total Performance Invitational, hosted by Kenyon College.

"I'm thrilled to have Cumberlands back on the schedule this year," says Kemnitz. " They are consistently one of the best teams in the country and really challenge us. And swimming at the Kenyon Invite has always been a goal of mine as a swimmer, and now it's great to have it happen as a coach so our swimmers can experience this type of competition from a legendary program."

Other highlights from this season's schedule include a road bout at Shawnee State University, a quad meet with Aquinas University, Bethel University (Ind.), and DePauw University (Ind.) in Indiana, a road contest at the University of Tennessee Southern, and a tri-meet in Campbellsville with the Tigers and Union College (Ky.).

"I made major changes to our schedule this year, purposefully adding more competition against teams that I know will be very difficult to beat," adds Kemnitz. "But that's what these swimmers need, they need to be swimming against fast swimmers, so they are better prepared mentally, emotionally, and physically when they get to nationals.

At the 2023 Mid-South Conference Championships, Lindsey Wilson finished second in the men's competition and third in the women's. All told, the Blue Raiders captured three individual gold medals and one relay title, as well as 16 total second and third-team honors.

From there, 13 swimmers went on to garner NAIA All-American status at the national championships in Georgia, including 11 returners.

"It was an entirely different procedure for NAIA Nationals last year and that was honestly stressful and a bit intimidating," admits Kemnitz. "No one knew exactly what to expect in terms of who would be invited and how fast 'B' cuts needed to be. There is still an element of newness that year, but at least we have a better idea of what to expect.

Strategically, I made a mistake with how I approached our taper going into conference and then a few weeks later doing the same for nationals. I already have a completely new plan with how to handle that this year, so I really believe we will be faster at Nationals and will hopefully see some good swims at conference too."

The 2023-24 Blue Raider roster features a healthy handful of all-star returnees and promising newcomers. Among those stepping into the pool for Lindsey Wilson this year is 2022 NAIA Women's Swimmer of the Year Maaike Broersma, who returns to Columbia after a year-long stint at Long Island University in New York, where she captured three Northeast Conference championships, earned NEC Championships Swimmer of the Meet honors, and met an NCAA "B"-Standard cut while setting six program records.

"We're very happy to have Maaike return from Long Island" expressed Kemnitz. "It's an honor that she has decided to compete during her senior year here at Lindsey Wilson. She has gotten faster, stronger, more confident, and has even more swimming smarts, so I expect big things from her on the conference and national levels."

Seniors Allie Rutherford and Jordyn Minifie and sophomore Azaliia Gabdrakipova are also due back after capturing All-American finishes in the 200 butterfly, 400 individual medley, and 200 backstroke, respectively.

"Allie will be going for her fourth conference title in the 200 butterfly this year and is also a good pick for All-American status in that event," says Kemnitz. "Similarly, Jordyn, who broke one of our oldest school records last year in the 400 IM, is expected to drop even more time in her primary events.

I'm excited to see what Azaliia can do in her 200 back. She had a hard time getting used to swimming in yards last year, so I think with a season under her belt, she can really make an impact this year and possibly get three 'A' cuts in her main events."

As for the men, conference champion and All-American Fabio Martin Rojo leads a solid core of experienced swimmers. Joining him are fellow All-Americans Azahn Hicks, James de Goede, Max van Schagen, Jose Rivas, Malte Ahrens, and Chase Hickman.

"We're excited to have James completing his graduate school year with us. He is likely to transition to purley sprints and I'm excited to see how this change goes," says Kemnitz. "Max is primed to be a big point grabber for us, as he will be our top sprinter and top breaststroker as well. He's worked really hard this summer, so I think people will be surprised with how much stronger and faster he is as a sophomore.

Fabio and Chase are always names to watch as well, and definitely bring maturity, experience, and swimming intelligence to the team. I think that Azahn has a lot more to give in terms of growth, strength, and speed in the water. He was just getting started last year and qualified/got invited for/to Nationals as a freshman. We've been working on getting him bigger and stronger over the summer, and I expect that will pay off.

We lost a few great sprinters to graduation last year: Both Tyler King and Annissa Koekemoer. What's fun is that they are both now my assistant coaches, so they are obviously still very active in the program but in just a different capacity."

When it comes to new faces, coach Kemnitz points to a trio that could make an immediate impact.

Natalia Gorska has had some amazing practices. She's definitely a dark horse as well. She can sprint like crazy but can also crank out yardage on the same intervals as our fastest men, so she is definitely a threat on several levels.  Reece Johnson and Clinton Eales, both from South Africa, are going to be fun to watch as well. I think they have a lot of physical growth left in them because they're young, so I'm excited to see how they progress over the next few years. But both certainly have the potential to score us good points at Nationals in multiple events. That's definitely the expectation."

The 2023-24 swim season opens this Friday and Saturday at the Holloway Natatorium with the 11th Annual Dr. Dillery Fall Frenzy. The first session begins at 5 p.m. CST on Friday and then resumes on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. CST.