On Saturday, the Swarthmore swim teams had their first competition since returning from their winter training trip in Puerto Rico. The Garnet hosted Stevens Institute of Technology and Rowan University for a tri-meet. Scout Clark ʼ19 won the Centennial Conference Swimmer of the Week for her dominating performance, as she won both the 200 freestyle and the 400 individual medley, and also finished third in the 200 stroke. The Garnet return to competition on Feb. 3 with a home meet against rival Gettysburg.
Jack Corkery: What is your major, and what made you decide to pursue it?
Scout Clark: I am a double chemistry and computer science major. Since high school I have always been interested in chemistry, especially in bringing reactions that we learn in class to life in the lab. My sophomore year, I became interested in CS after my first class because I enjoyed coding and learning how simple languages can be used to construct complex programs and machinery.
JC: What made you decide to attend Swat?
SC: When I first visited Swat, I met most of the swim team, and after hearing about all of their classes/experiences and getting to know all of them, I knew I wanted to come here. Everyone was one big family and so willing to help one another out, both in practice and in school, and I realized I wanted to be a part of something like that in college.
JC: What is your favorite event, and why?
SC: My favorite event is the 200 individual medley. I love it because the race is constantly changing — you do a 50 of each stroke, all out, as fast as you can go. It’s also short and sweet compared to some of the other events I race as a distance swimmer!
JC: How was the winter break training trip?
SC: Training trip was super fun as always. Getting to be in sunny Puerto Rico with the whole team is great because there is so much team bonding, especially because we are living in such close quarters and going through intense training for 10 days. We had doubles most days, with our first practice starting at 6 a.m. and the afternoon practice consisting of swimming and dryland. Some of the highlights were our team breakfasts, going to the beach in between practices, and the boat trip during our day off!
JC: What are your personal and team goals for the remainder of the season?
SC: I plan to continue training hard for the remainder of the season and hope to get some best times and improve my placings at conferences from previous years. For the women’s team, we plan to beat Gettysburg in our meet this weekend and to get at least second place at conferences. We have been swimming faster than we ever have this season, and I am so excited to see what we can do at conferences!
