Friday evening's reception was a great opportunity to meet and greet all of the new Whitman Swimming families, as well as welcome back all of our returning Whitman Swimming parents and family members. It was also a chance for our parents to get to meet the team and hear from some of our swimmers about their experiences. In case you missed it, below are videos of Junior, Dane Kawamoto, and Senior, Keller Hawkins, sharing some thoughts about what the Whitman Swim Team means for each of them and how important our California training trip in January is for the team.
Saturday's swim meet was followed by lunch outside in the sun on a beautiful fall day in Walla Walla. As swimmers, alumni, and family and friends all ate lunch and socialized, some old panels from the record board were on display. For a few of our swimming alums, it was a chance to gather up their old records and take home their own slice of Whitman Swimming History. Below are some photos of past and present record holders. More photos of the alumni are on the Facebook page.
Nathan Engman (class of '96) collects his now broken 200 Freestyle and 400 Freestyle Relay records. Both records have been broken in each of the last 2 seasons.
Erin Pettersen (left, '08) holds her old 100 Butterfly record, now held by Katie Chapman (right, '13)
On Saturday evening it was time for dinner and wine at Jamie Kennedy's house! Jamie and his wife Becky (both members of the class of '96) hosted the alums for a feast of smoked chicken, pasta with homemade sauce from Jamie's garden, and plenty of local wine. It was--according to several alums--worth the trip just for Jamie's food and hospitality!
The Kennedy's also had up a great display of swimming photos from the Whitman Athletics archives, dating all the way back to the mid-1990's. The photos can be viewed on the team's Facebook page.
Jamie's smoker loaded up with 8 chickens. What a great night of food and friends!
