...........In February of 2003, DePauw University captured the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference team titles in both men's and women's swimming and diving. Upon returning to campus to begin the 2003-2004 academic year, Trinity’s men and women had one clear goal in mind…bring the 2004 SCAC team titles back to the skyline campus in San Antonio. 

            Despite a slow start, the fall season was relatively successful for both teams. The year's first semester was highlighted by a pair of wins over McMurry University at a double-dual meet at the Carroll ISD Natatorium in Southlake, Texas on November 20.   Final exams concluded on December 16, and the T.U. team then reconvened in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in late December to train at Westminster Academy and the International Swimming Hall-of-Fame during the winter recess.   January witnessed successful meets with Colorado College and Southwestern University, well as a pair of Trinity wins at the team's traditional end-of-season Tiger Invitational.  That set the stage for the 2004 SCAC Swimming & Diving Championships, which were held at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, on February 12, 13 and 14.

            Trinity’s men opened the meet with an exciting win in the 200 freestyle relay, which then to jump start the team into a series of fast and successful races.  First, Ryan Van Der Kar defended his conference 500 freestyle title.  Trinity then went 2-3-4 in the 50 freestyle, after which first-year Dan Petersen captured the 200 IM with a school record time of 1:54.67.  To top off the opening night’s finals, the Trinity combo of Zach Coburn, VDK, Petersen, and Andrew Callahan won the 400 medley relay with a school record time of 3:27.55. 

............The men went into second day of the conference meet with a 38 point lead over DePauw, and then proceeded to slip steadily away from their northern rivals during Friday evening's finals.  Ryan Van Der Kar got things going by winning the 400 IM for the fourth year in a row touching up touching up with a 4:06.62. Then first-year Evan O’Dea shocked Sewanee’s Will Oakes, the defending 200 Freestyle champion, with a fast 1:43.26. Petersen followed with his second win of the night, capturing the 100 breaststroke with yet another school record (58.66). Coburn then won captured the 100 backstroke, qualifying for the NCAA National Championships for the fourth year in a row. Finally, Trinity finished the night with a “no contest” win in the 800 freestyle relay, leaving the pool with a 62 point lead.  DePauw's biggest salavation over the meet's first two days was their dominance in the 1 and 3 meter diving events, where they scored 74 points to Trinity's 22 points.

...........As far as Trinity's men were concerned, Saturday proved to be more of the same...only more.  First-year Blair Boudousquie and senior Tait Ecklund went 1 & 3 in the 1650 freestyle to open the final night of competition. T.U. then put 4 men in the finals of the 200 backstroke, Andrew Callahan captured his first ever SCAC individual title with an upset victory in the 100 freestyle (46.75), VDK won his fourth consecutive 200 butterfly crown with a 1:53.86, and T.U. closed the meet with a 3:08.83 win in the 400 freestyle relay.  The final score for the men's meet read Trinity 861, DePauw 773 and Rose-Hulman 601 (marking the first time in SCAC history that Sewanee failed to finish third at the SCAC Championship). It turned out to be a good weekedn for the maroon and white of Trinity University.

           Meanwhile, Trinity's women captured their SCAC team title by an unprecedented margin, showing one and all that the Tigers were the class of the conference. The team's depth was the key to their victory. The Tiger women opened the meet inauspiciously falling, to Sewanee and DePauw in the 200 freestyle relay, and did not win an event until the end of the evening, when they finished first in the 400 Medley Relay. However, what the Tigers did succeed in accomplishing was impressive. T.U. had 6 finalists in the 500 Freestyle, 5 finalists in the 200 I.M., and 3 finalists in the 50 freestyle to jump to an early lead. It was never challenged. Leading the field after the first full day of competition with 320 points (Sewanee had 251 and DePauw had 196), the Lady Tigers never looked back. 

.............On Friday night, T.U. won the 200 medley relay to get things started.  Sophomore Catherine Jelf then won the 400 IM with a 4:42.75,  first-year Lauren Clements captured the 100 butterfly with a school record 59.08, senior Christy Anderson earned her first-ever SCAC title in the 100 Breaststroke (1:10.46), and senior Stephanie Walla won the 100 Backstroke with a 59.91.  Trinity put 14 swimmers into the championship finals of 4 races, and racked up 111 points in the 1 and 3 meter diving events. In the last race of the evening, despite the fact that the team had no finalists in the 200 free, Trinity's women amazed their fans, their coaches, and themselves by upsetting Sewanee in the 800 freestyle relay. Sophomore Carrie Fitzgerald swam a spirited anchor leg to seal the deal there. At that point, Trinity’s lead was virutually insurmountable. However, the best was yet to come. 

...............On Saturday, T.U. went 2-3-4-7-9 in the 1650 Freestyle, and then reeled off back-to-back wins in the 200 backstroke (Walla at 2:09.50), the 100 Freestyle (Isenberg at 53.50), the 200 Breaststroke (Anderson at 2:31.60), and the 200 Butterfly (Clements at 2:13.20).  With 16 swimmers placing in the “Big-Final” of 5 events, Trinity walked away with team honors.   The Tigers closed the meet with a school record 3:37.99 in the 400 Freestyle Relay, which was at that point almost anticlimactic.  When the final score was tallied, Trinity had racked up 1030 points, giving them a nearly 300 point margin of victory over runner-up Sewanee(736). It was the biggest victory margin in SCAC history.

            In the end, Trinity’s coaching staff (John Ryan, Stan Randall, Ad’m Dusenbury, and massage therapist Lois Pearson) was delighted by the spirit and effort that both of their teams exhibited throughout the championship meet.  With 14 swimmers and divers graduating (5 men and 9 women), Trinity faces a big challenge when it comes to defending their conference titles in 2005.  However, the Tigers had the SCAC’s best men’s and women’s first-year classes on their 2004 teams.  That should count for something in the year to come. Only time will tell.