The University of Rhode Island Club Swim Team hosted a home meet on Sunday, April 6th—Rutgers University, Boston College, University of Maine, and Salve Regina University were among the competing teams. The meet acted as a senior night for the swim team, with all seven seniors competing in events. The club swim seniors who were recognized include Kiley George, Ben Thomas, Casey McQuesten, Elizabeth Allen, Carla Faces, Andrew Langille, and Natalia Oganesian. The meet proved to be a successful sendoff for the team’s seniors. 

In the team’s last home meet of the season, and last meet before nationals, many swimmers on the URI team posted record-breaking times. Senior Natalia Oganesian set a new URI women’s club swim record in the 500 yard freestyle event with a time of 5:52.54. President of the club swim team, Casey McQuesten, posted a new team record on the men’s side for the 500 yard freestyle–finishing the event in 5:25.34. Senior, Andrew Langille, in his last club swim meet ever, set a personal record in the 50 yard freestyle, beating his previous best time by two seconds. Junior Jack Nystrom also set his best time ever in the 200 yard freestyle event, finishing in under two minutes. 

Fellow Campus Recreation copywriter, and member of the club swim team, Erin Mullaney gave more details on the team. Erin, competes in a variety of different events, while also working on the club’s executive board, as the social chair. Erin competed in five races during the home meet, the most notable being the women’s 200 yard medley relay. The relay team that consisted of Kiley George, Julia Barret, Megan Wallitsch, and Erin finished first, winning the opening race of the meet. 

Erin, who credits the Club Swim Team for helping her find her “niche” on campus, discovered the team through another club sport team she is a part of, club field hockey. After a teammate on the field hockey team connected Erin with a member on the swim team, she began showing up to practices. Despite being nervous because she had not swam competitively for a long time, Erin found the swim team to be incredibly “chill” and welcoming. While the team likes to win and send swimmers to nationals, there is a wide variety of skill levels on the team. “Some people on the team are much more advanced and take it more seriously, and some people participate recreationally and enjoy the team environment. 
So, I thought it was cool to be part of something where everyone got along really well, but there were no expectations.” Mullaney said. 

Erin is also grateful for the variety of opportunities she has experienced while being on the club swim team. Being a part of the team opened up leadership opportunities, such as being on the club swim executive board. “I’ve had so many travel opportunities from swimming. I got to see so many different campuses and meet a ton of new people,” Erin said. The social aspect of being on the swim team has helped make Erin’s college experience, as she lives in an off-campus house with her best friends on the team. 

The club swim team has one more meet remaining this season, and it’s the most important, nationals. Erin noted that just sending swimmers to nationals is a massive accomplishment for the team. The team takes pride in its improvement over the years as they continue to send more swimmers to nationals each year. Last year, the team had 14 qualifying swimmers race at nationals. This year, the team will be sending 21 swimmers to nationals. “Our goal is just to make a name for ourselves and grow our program and be able to swim at a competitive level while still balancing a social life… and academics,” Mullaney said. 

Best of luck to URI Club Swim and all 21 swimmers competing in the Spring Nationals on Thursday, April 24th!

By John Almy
Class of 2026
Journalism Major