Men's Team Second Semester Summary

Men's Team Huddle.

The Bantam's returned from Florida with a full schedule of meets. Over a two week period the Bantams had five competitions against seven teams. It was an action packed two weeks with lots of fast swimming and some great competition. The men came away from the five meet, seven match up spread, with a solid 4-3 record and lots of regular season and personal best times. 

During the marathon schedule of meets the men had wins against Vassar, Brandeis, Wesleyan, and Colby, and losses at Wheaton, Connecticut College, and Bowdoin.

Wheaton College
Trinity freshman Nick Celestin won the 200 freestyle and junior co-captain, Mark Yanagisawa finished second in the 1000 freestyle, and followed that with a first place finish in the 200 IM, and another in the 200 butterfly.  Celestin picked up another first place finish later in the afternoon, in the 200 backstroke. Coach Noone was pleased with the men's performance, “I thought our men’s team did a good job, especially being down a few men due to injuries. They had some significant time drops today coming off of our training trip, and that is a good sign for our upcoming meets as they become more rested.”

Vassar College
Just a day after the Wheaton meet Junior co-captain Mark Yanagisawa won all three of his individual events to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 117-95 victory over Vassar College. Yanagisawa won the 1,000 freestyle, the 200 IM, and the 100 butterfly, while classmate Max Ma took first place in the 100 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke.  Trinity first-year Nick Celestin won both the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke and teamed with Ma, junior Alex Zhang  and sophomore Alex Kurose to win the meet-opening 200 medley relay.  Celestin's time of 25.04 in the 50 backstroke leg of the relay set a new Bantam record in the event, breaking a two-year old mark held by Andrew Boynton.

Brandeis College
First-year Nick Celestin won three events and junior Max Ma won twice to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 159-102 victory over Brandeis University. Coach Noone was pleased with the men's performances as she said, "Our teams are in great shape right now coming off of a rigorous winter break schedule. We had lots of lifetime best times today, and that really tells the story of what a great position we are in at this point in the season. Our divers are really stepping it up, and I can't wait for NESCAC Championships to watch some great performances." The Bantams finished first and second in the 200 medley relay to open the meet with a 15-2 lead, and coasted from there.  Ma won the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke, and Celestin won the 100 backstroke, the 200 backstroke, and the 400 IM.  Junior diver Mac McCarthy had two lifetime best scores on the one- and three-meter diving events and Celestin's 400 IM time was a lifetime best.

Bowdoin, Colby, Wesleyan
The Trinity College Bantams edged both Colby College and Wesleyan University in a quad meet at Bowdoin College.  Trinity topped Colby, 149-144, and Wesleyan, 140-139, while losing to the host Polar Bears, 198-87. With the wins the men improve to 5-4 in dual meets. First-year Nick Celestin won the 100 and 200 butterflies with lifetime-best times, and new team record times of 51.90 and 1:55.39, respectively.  He also earned a lifetime-best time of 1:47.39 in the 200-yard freestyle.  Junior diver Mac McCarthy contributed big points with two first-places against Wesleyan and a first and second place against Colby.  Junior Max Ma and junior co-captain Mark Yanagisawa finished first and second, respectively, in the 200 IM to secure team wins against both Wesleyan and Colby. Coach Noon had this to say about the meet, “Our men had great meets to get wins against Wesleyan and Colby. Every race mattered from first to fifth place.  We had enough depth to get the job done.”

Women's Team Second Semester Summary

Seniors and Coaches at Senior Meet versus Brandeis

The Bantam's returned from Florida with a full schedule of meets. Over a two week period the Bantams had five competitions against seven teams. It was an action packed two weeks with lots of fast swimming and some great competition. The women came away from the five meet, seven match up spread, with a solid 3-4 record and lots of regular season and personal best times. 

Wheaton College
In their first meet since returning from Florida the Bantams topped the Wheaton College Lyons, 160-74. Coach Noone said of the meet, "This meet should have been closer for the women, and they just went out and crushed it.  Their hard work on our training trip is already paying off big dividends for them. I am very pleased with where they are right now as we kick off the second part of our season." The Bantams took first in 7 of 10 individual events. Senior leadership was key in this meet. Seniors Emily Jensen and Daisy Letendre each won two individual events, and Letendre had a personal best time in her lead off of the 400 Medley Relay. Junior Emily Johnson continued her domination on the boards taking first on both the 1 and 3 meter boards, and establishing a new Trinity record on the 3-meter.

Vassar College
A day after the Wheaton meet the Bantams were back in action at Vassar College. Seniors led the way again, Emily Jensen and Shelby Friel won two races each and junior Emily Johnson swept the diving events. The Bantams won 121-103.  Trinity won its second meet in as many days. 

Brandeis Meet
Ten different Bantams won events, as the Trinity College women's swimming and diving team dominated from start to finish against the visiting Brandeis University Judges in a 180-77 win at Trinity Natatorium. It was truly a team effort as every individual came through to help in the win.

Connecticut College
The Bantams fell to Connecticut College, but had several personal best times in the contest. Seniors, Emily Jensen, Shelby Friel, and sophomore Audrey Butler, recorded second-place finishes for the Bantams. Friel, competing collegiality in the 500 free for the first time, finished in a personal best 5:24.22 (9th-best in Trinity history). It was a great meet for all the swimmers.

Bowdoin, Colby, Wesleyan
Junior Emily Johnson won both diving events, as the Trinity College Bantams competed in a quad meet at Bowdoin College against Bowdoin, Colby, and Wesleyan. Johnson took the top spot against five other divers with a score of 241.60 off the one-meter board and beat out four other competitors with a first-place score of 223.35 off the three-meter board. Audrey Butler finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.  Her 200 breast time of 2:33.95 was an untapered regular-season best time.  Shelby Friel placed third and fourth in the 100 butterfly and 200 free, respectively.  Her 200 free time of 1:59.87 was a regular-season best time.  Coach Noone was pleased with how the team performed saying, "Our women will compete at Bowdoin at NESCAC Championships in a few weeks, so this was a good chance for them to get used to competing in this pool and to see some strong NESCAC competition. I thought varied individuals stepped up at different times during the meet.  It was good to see some strong performances from our women."

Celestin Continues Record Breaking Season

First-Year Nick Celestin continues his record setting season, He established new marks of 51.90 and 1:55.39 in the 100 and 200 butterfly at the quad meet at Bowdoin College. This marks the third time this season that Celestin has lowered the record in the 200 fly, and the second time he has dropped the mark in the 100 fly. These records add to his record times in the 100 IM (54.72), the 50 back (25.04) and the 100 back (53.33). We're excited to see what he'll do once he's fully tapered and shaved, congrats Nick!

Senior Women Achieve 3.941 Avg. GPA

Bantam Senior Women 2012-13 Pompano Beach, FL
From Left to Right: Daisy Letendre, Emily Jensen, Shelby Friel, Carleigh Haron

This season the Bantams have four senior women: Shelby Friel, Carleigh Haron, Emily Jensen, and Daisy Letendre. These are not your average swimmers or college athletes. These women compete at the highest level within their team and within the NESCAC. They also achieve at the highest level in the classroom among all students at Trinity.

During her four year career Shelby Friel has established team records in the 50 and 100 fly, the 50 back and the 200 free. She has also been a key member to the Trinity relays. She has contributed to the 400 and 800 free relay records, and the 200 and 400 medley relay records. This season Shelby has put in an incredible amount of dedication in training and is sure to have an amazing NESCAC championship meet.

Co-Captain Carleigh Haron is off to another incredible season. Over the last four years she has become a key member of the Trinity relays. She is the only swimmer to be a part of the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle relay records. Her ability to contribute in relay events ranging from the 50 to 200 freestyle highlights her versatility as a sprint and mid-distance freestyler. She currently ranks among the top-10 in Trinity history in the 100 and 200 free, and the 50 and 100 fly. We can't wait to see what she does at NESCAC's!

Emily Jensen is off to another strong season and looks to cap off her career with an incredible NESCAC championship meet. The leader of Trinity's sprint group, she currently ranks third all time in both the 50 and 100 free and she was a member of the record setting 200 and 400 free relays, as well as the 400 medley relay. Jensen also ranks among Trinity's top-10 in the 50 breaststroke.

Co-Captain Daisy Letendre holds the third fastest time in school history in the 200 and 400 IM and ranks among the top-10 in team history in the 100 IM, and the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Letendre has been a leader in the IM and breaststroke groups the last two years and looks to finish her stellar career with a phenomenal NESCAC Championship meet.

All of these women are incredible athletes as indicated by their achievements in the pool over the last four years, but what is most impressive is that they are all equally impressive students. During the fall semester Shelby Friel, Carleigh Haron, Emily Jensen, and Daisy Letendre had a combined average GPA of 3.941. With their astounding performance in the classroom they helped lead the Trinity College women's swim team to their highest team GPA in school history at just above 3.5. The team's GPA for the fall semester would have ranked among the top-10 in the country last fall, and is sure to be right atop the standings once this year's GPA rankings are released. Congratulations Shelby, Carleigh, Emily and Daisy! Thank you for the impressive example you have set and for continuing the tradition of excellence here at Trinity!

Pompano Beach Training Trip

Trinity College Bantam Swimming & Diving 2012-13, Pompano Beach, Fl

Women's Team 2012-13 Pompano Beach, FL

Men's Team 2012-13 Pompano Beach, FL

Seniors 2012-13 Pompano Beach, FL

Every winter break the Bantam Swimming and Diving teams return to school early for their most intense training of the season. While their break is cut short, they do get to spend part of it somewhere warm. This year they headed south to Pompano Beach, Florida. The training trip is always a huge time for team building and bonding as a group. The trip is also a time for some really hard work and incredible training. This year the team spent nine days training long course meters twice a day. Each day the temperature ranged from 75-85 degrees, and the sun was shining all trip. It was perfect training trip weather. While there was down time each day at the beach, most of trip was spent working hard at the pool.

A typical day on training trip started with morning practice. The team would meet at the vans around 6:30am. The pool was a short five minute drive away from the hotel. The team would spend the next two and half hours getting intense and quality workouts in as the sun rose. After practice the team would enjoy the hotel breakfast together, before they'd head to the beach to catch some waves and some rays. After spending time as a team on the beach the team would head back to their rooms for a quick nap before practice number two. The vans would load up again at 4:30pm. The team would do dryland at the pool until 5:00pm and then spend the next two hours getting back to business in the pool. While on the trip the team continued some team training trip traditions. They went out for team ice cream sundae night, and had a team night out at the movies. They also continued the team dinner tradition as they had one large team dinner at a Pompano Beach favorite, J. Marks.

Both men's and women's team worked incredibly hard all trip. They will surely see their work pay off big time in the remaining dual meets, and especially at NESCAC Championships in February. Way to go Bantams!

Bantams Head To Florida For Winter Break Training

Before 2nd Practice of our trip

The swimmers are in Pompano Beach, FL for our winter break training.  Two sessions per day in the water and some dryland in between....they are certainly working hard!  Some fun activities sprinkled in makes a great recipe for a successful trip.  Everyone is enjoying some great weather (80 degrees during the day and 70 at night!) and having fun on the beach in between and after practices.  We are here until Jan. 10th and then head back to campus for an aggressive week of meets and some additional double sessions before classes start on Jan. 22nd.  We are very much looking forward to our upcoming meets and of course NESCAC Championships!

Bantams Mourn Passing of Long Time Coach Chet McPhee

Remembering Chet McPhee By: Lori Riley
December 19, 2012

Chet McPhee was a freshman football coach at Trinity. He was the college's swim coach for 15 years, coaching both the men's and the women's teams. He started the men's lacrosse program. He coached soccer.
"I think he did track for a while, too," said Rick Hazelton, who retired as Trinity athletic director after 28 years in 2010. "He was a special coach. He would do anything for me. He was my predecessor's right-hand man. Chet didn't want the AD job. I put him in any sport I could put him in."

"His coaching went beyond practices and games and strategies and all that. He was a great friend to all of his athletes."

McPhee, who died Dec. 14 at age 83, was an eclectic guy. He was, Hazelton said, probably the only one in the Trinity athletic department with a doctoral degree. He played in a band and loved jazz and big-band music. He died while broadcasting his radio show, "Sunrise Serenade," on Trinity's campus station, WRTC, on the morning of Dec. 14.

"I called him every [Friday] in the morning, but that day, I had a physical," his longtime friend Bob Parzych said. "I was coming down Route 9 and I turned on the radio. I heard the white noise. The transmitter was on. Something was up. There was nobody on the air."

"I called his house, no answer. Chet had a bout of pneumonia two years ago. I called his daughter-in-law. They got a call from Hartford Hospital. Before he hit the ground, he was gone."

Parzych was the one who got McPhee, who lived in Newington, into radio. Parzych came to Trinity to play football in 1972, where he met McPhee.

"He was one of those unique individuals, as a coach, where it wasn't about winning," said Parzych, who lives in Berlin. "It was more about playing the game and having fun. He really let the kids run it."

Parzych wasn't getting a lot of varsity playing time, so by his senior year, he was ready to stop playing. Hazelton was the defensive coach and told Parzych he should talk to McPhee about helping coach.

They became lifelong friends, coaching football and soccer together from 1975 to 1994, when McPhee retired. Hazelton still maintained an office for him at Trinity.

"He came in every day and read the paper," Hazelton said. "I had him do different projects. He was an English major, a good writer. He would substitute teach PE classes. He would do anything. He was always around, always had a smile on his face."

Parzych remembered a typical McPhee football coaching moment: third-and-15, a nervous quarterback, Trinity had to make a big play. McPhee would call a timeout and act as if he were diagramming a big play.

But he was really saying, 'Do whatever you want,'" Parzcyh said. "Just to relax everybody. Then the quarterback would make this big play. [McPhee] had nothing to do with it. We would all laugh."
Or how about the time the Trinity freshmen were going to scrimmage the University of Hartford's club team, back in 1977 or '78?

"We had a good team," Parzych said. "We had 25 kids on the team. Hartford had like 80. They got off the bus and we saw their team. He turns to me and says, 'Everybody in here.'"

Everybody gathered around, expecting to hear some pearls of wisdom.

"'Just remember, the bigger they are, the harder they hit,'" Parzych recalled McPhee's saying.

"They're like, 'What did he just say?' They all started laughing. That's the kind of stuff he did. I don't think Hartford scored a point on us."

His 1984 women's swim team went 10-0. The scoreboard at the Trinity pool is named after him. Many Trinity athletes considered him their mentor.

McPhee, Parzych said, never wanted to be called Dr. McPhee.

"It was never about Chet," he said. "It was always about you. He was just that sort of person. I haven't really cried yet. Part of it is that he's still here."

Parzych, who is the radio station's sports director and has been the voice of Trinity hockey for the past 35 years, has a Monday afternoon show called "The Kitchen Sink." McPhee started on his show.

"He would come in and do big-band stuff," Parzych said. "We called it 'Chet's Corner.' Chet was wide open to anything, all different types of artists. That was interesting for someone of his age. He loved his big bands."

"He was kind of the Bob Steele of WRTC. He was into puns. He had a dry sense of humor. [When they coached football], we would start a pun chain. The [other] assistant coaches would get away from us. They didn't want to be near us."

Robin Sheppard, Trinity's associate athletic director and former field hockey coach, arrived at Trinity when she was 22. He was one of her coaching mentors.

"Chet was maybe the second person I met in Hartford and he was kind of a father away from home," she said. "He was a raconteur, a very talented storyteller. He would tell these anecdotes filled with a lot of corny puns and rhymes — he told them over and over, being egged on by us.

"His family shared him with us. He spent a lot of hours in the Ferris Athletic Center with us."

The official article can be found on the Hartford Courant website, along with his obituary under the second link below:

http://articles.courant.com/2012-12-29/sports/hc-riley-column-1230-20121229_1_trinity-athletic-director-freshman-football-coach-rick-hazelton

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hartfordcourant/obituary.aspx?pid=161852695#fbLoggedOut