The Program: Saints Swimming

The St. Lawrence University men's and women's swimming team offers student athletes the opportunity to set and achieve both individual and team goals. A number of student athletes have achieved remarkable individual results over the past few years, which has allowed the team to improve their finish at the Liberty League and New York State championships .

Bob Clemmer, who took the head coaching position in spring of 2000, is just the third head coach in the history of the Saints swimming program and the second to coach a women's team. Clemmer quickly instituted a new training and practice regimen that addresses the most current training principles in the sport. His philosophy is to work with each swimmers individual ability with the goal of maximizing the improvement and achievement of every member of his team.

A number of St. Lawrence swimmers have posted impressive individual results recently, led by Joanne Cavallerano '05, who holds the school record in three events. Cavallerano is a three-time Liberty League champion in the 500 free and a two-time state champion in the same event. As a senior in 2004-05, among her 17 first place finishes during the season, she won the 500 free at the New York State championships. At the Liberty League Championships, she finished second in the 500 Free. Alida Gerritsen, a sophomore (left) won the 100 and 200 breaststroke championships at the 2006 Liberty League CHampionships.

On the men's side, Mike Murray '05 swam to a Liberty League Championship in the 500 Free as well as setting as a school record in the 1650 Free with a time of 16:55.69. Newcomer Robo Ibler (below right) was 2006 Liberty League 50 free champion.

In addition, the Saints have a number of solid rookies and other athletes who have been improving steadily throughout their St. Lawrence career. As a result, the women's team has posted a winning dual meet record in four of Clemmer's five seasons with a 5-4 record in 2004-05, while the men finished the 2004-05 season with a 4-5 dual meet record.

The Saints swim program includes a combination of dual and invitational meets leading up to the state meet to end the regular season. Saint swimmers can also qualify for the NCAA Division III championships with outstanding performances during the season. NCAA qualification is based on time standards.

The Saint men's program has produced a national team championship in 1976 and third-place team finishes in 1980 and 1982, along with several national individual champions and over 60 individual and relay All-America finishes.

The women's program has produced over 40 individual All-America finishes and 16 relay All-America finishes in its history. It also has one national champion, Laurie Peterssen McManus `81, who is one of four Saint woman swimmers who are members of the St. Lawrence University Athletic Hall of Fame.