Artistic Swimming | 1/7/2022 10:09:00 AM

DENTON, Texas – The New Year boasts new beginnings and the start of new programs at Texas Woman's University. TWU Artistic Swimming gets ready to make a splash in its inaugural year of competition in 2022.

Artistic Swimming Head Coach Sara Lilly welcomed five athletes in the fall: Anaya Kashikar, Ashley Latchford, Haiden Long, Makayla Crichton and Maribella Falconer. During their fall semester of training, Lilly said the team brought tenacity and intensity to the pool every day.

"They did a really good job and I am excited about the routines," Lilly said. "I think they are really going to surprise themselves this season."

Aside from their hard work in the pool, Lilly said she has been even more impressed by the commitment the five athletes have had to start the program the right way.

"I am very impressed with what they are doing in the pool and they are working very hard which is great," Lilly said, "but I think the things that are most important in preparing them for life after school they are doing a really great job of doing on their own, which has been really fun."

The team has already started to create standing traditions, so for years to come, the program has pillars leading to greatness in the pool, on campus and in the community. Outside of the pool, the team has been very involved in supporting all Pioneer athletic teams, and they have also been very involved in community service projects in Denton.

As a new program at TWU, Pioneer fans had their first opportunity to witness the impressive feats of the artistic swimming program at TWU's annual Holiday Spectacular. The team performed a holiday-themed routine, which ignited excitement for Pioneer fans.

Pioneer fans will have their first chance to watch Artistic Swimming in competition at home on Jan. 29, when the Pioneers host a Tri-Meet against the University of Incarnate Word and Stanford University.

Lilly said they are looking forward to the opportunity to perform in front of a home crowd and they want everyone to cheer loud at the event.

"When people ask, am I supposed to cheer? The answer is yes," Lilly said. "Sometimes at meets, it's almost a competition of who can have the loudest cheering section. I think it definitely affects the performance and affects how the performance is perceived, so when schools have a louder cheering section it hypes the athletes up and it hypes the judges up."

Following their home stand, the team will travel to Ohio State University on Feb. 5 to compete. Then, they will compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Feb. 12 and 13 in Stanford, California. The team will close the month of February with the South Regional Competition. Their regular season will be bookended with a meet at Incarnate Word on Mar. 6 and 7.

Finally, Collegiate Nationals will take place on Mar. 25-27. Lilly said the entire regular season is built around training for Collegiate Nationals.

"Collegiate is very different from club," Lilly said. "You jump right into the season. You train through every meet and the meet you are really training for is Collegiate Nationals, so you're going to go to competitions and it's going to be rough. The season won't taper until Collegiate Nationals."

Lilly and the first five athletes will be joined by two more team members this spring for the upcoming season. Lilly said the two new athletes are ready to jump right in and everyone is very excited to be together.

"They have both been training and we have started to send them videos from practice, so they can see what we're doing," Lilly said. "They are really excited to come. We face-timed with one of the girls and she can't wait to get here. They are really eager and our girls are really excited to have more people on the team."

Lilly, an Olympic Bronze Medalist and six-time national champion, said she has said high standards for the program because she knows her team is capable of reaching them; nevertheless, she said she already considers this year a success because of the positive attitudes and outstanding character of her first team at TWU.

"I think it's a really successful year, already," Lilly said. "Their discipline is great and they have really risen to the standards I have set for them, in and out of the pool. To me, more than their finishes, what marks success is the way they set up the program and their excitement surrounding it. I think they have done a really, really great job. That to me is already successful."