With the regular season wrapped up for NCC men’s swimming team, the Cardinals look to build upon what they have done this year at the CCIW Swimming Championships and beyond.
New leader at the helm
The 2022-23 season marked the first season for new head coach Nora Schroedter, ‘86. Schroedter returned to her alma mater where she swam collegiately, and with over 35 years of experience in the pool. She has coached previously at the College of Dupage, Benet Academy and Neuqua Valley High School.
It was a true homecoming for Schroedter, as she came full circle to where it all began.
“I feel honored to be back here at NCC. All the coaches and staff were so welcoming and helpful. For me, this is where it started. I learned how to swim in this pool and grew up as an age-group swimmer with Coach Ryan. I am looking forward to giving back to the NCC community,” said Schroedter.
Coming back to Naperville with plenty of knowledge, Schroedter was coached by NCC Athletic Hall of Fame coach Dennis Ryan. This will mark the team’s first season with a full-time head coach since the departure of Kurt Woodward prior to the 2021-22 season. Having stability at the top of the program has proven to be beneficial for the Cardinals as year one of her tenure comes to a conclusion.
Season recap
The team wrapped up their last meet of the regular season at Millikin University. The team as a whole competed in nine regular season meets and the CCIW Championships.
The Cardinals may have had only six team members, but it didn’t stop returning faces from performing. Despite being the only senior, Ben Laurich ‘23 made the most of the season, as he competed in seven different events throughout the season for the Cardinals. His versatility in events helped provide the Cardinals with much-needed depth on a team that lacked it.
Laurich broke one of his personal records this season. He beat his own record in the 500-yard freestyle from the 2020 CCIW Championships with a time of 5 minutes and 57.74 seconds at Illinois Wesleyan. He also placed second in the 200-yard-freestyle at the Beloit Quad, and first in the same event at Loras College.
Gavin Sheehan ‘25 provided a spark for the team. Sheehan’s season was highlighted by a second-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley at Loras College and third-place finishes in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly at Millikin University.
On top of the efforts in the pool, the team was named to the Scholar All-America Team by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) after accumulating an average GPA greater than 3.0. This marked the team’s first appearance on the list since the 2014 season.
Growth on the horizon
After her first season, Schroedter looks to expand the size of the program.
“The 2023-2024 recruiting class looks great. I have doubled the size of the team and I am hoping to add a couple more. The additional swimmers will give the team some depth and allow for entries in all the relays,” said Schroedter.
The six-man team has laid the groundwork for the team going forward and set the bar for the new era of the program. Schroedter looks forward to seeing the hard work of her current team combine with the potential of an incoming class.
“I am fortunate to work with a talented group of athletes and colleagues. I look forward to watching the team and program grow,” said Schroedter.
Immediately making an impact, Matt Strong, ‘26, used this season as a chance to learn valuable experience about what it takes to succeed in swimming at the collegiate level.
“I hope to use the experience I gained this year to start next year off right by using all of our resources from the beginning. This year I didn’t know all of the health tricks available since I was a freshman,” said Strong.
Having a full season under his belt will allow Strong to get to work right away next season. Using the experience from this year will be a valuable asset for the Cardinals who look to bounce back next season.
An unlikely advantage
Expecting such growth in year two of Schroedter’s tenure will help the Cardinals’ chances in the pool. The lack of a large team still didn’t stop the Cardinals from giving it their all. They used this as a chance to grow stronger and be more connected with one another. Creating a close-knit team gave the team an unlikely advantage.
“I definitely think the team became closer. I tried to provide some positive team-building gatherings. Although, I think the team has seen the progress of the program over the season,” said Schroedter.
Strong saw the circumstances that faced his teammates as unique, but that didn’t stop them from capitalizing on it.
“The team really made the year the best it could be with the situation we’ve been put in. The whole team shares a great bond with each other. The pool is old and small, we share the locker room, and the team is small because we’re in a rebuilding year, but I still enjoyed every bit of it,” said Strong.
CCIW Championships
The CCIW Championships were held Feb. 16-18 in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. The Cardinals finished in seventh place. Considering how stretched thin the team was down the stretch, it didn’t stop the four competitors. The competition within conference allowed the Cardinals to face top-tier swimmers and will be a valuable experience as the team looks on to next year
Looking forward
While the CCIW Championships last week concluded the season for the Cardinals, the outlook is positive for the team going into the offseason. The combination of returning experience, security in the coaching staff, and a promising recruiting class that will double the team size will provide the Cardinals with an interesting opportunity next season.
