Story By: Sarah Turner and Wesley Holsomback

MONTEVALLO, Ala. — On Feb. 12, the University of Montevallo men’s and women’s swim teams faced a potential program shutdown in the upcoming year.

This announcement came to many of the student-athletes as a complete surprise. “We had no clue,” said swim team member Stella Newton.

“The president of the university came to the SAAC meeting and told the people on our team that no teams were at risk of being cut,” she said. “We didn’t think that was even a possibility for us, it just kind of came out of nowhere.”

With the program’s future as a whole in doubt, the team had to face a different challenge, the Conference Carolinas Swimming Championships.

(Photo Courtesy of Montevallo Athletics)

A challenge that both teams met with fantastic results at the individual and team level. The men’s team claimed the Conference Carolinas title, while the women’s team wrapped up a second-place finish.

Aleksei Kolesnikov a senior on the men’s swim team shared what he will remember most about the successful weekend.

“Of course, the celebration, we’ve obviously never won before, this is a huge moment, a lot of
emotions,” he said. “The relay was also big, 4×100 medley relay where we crushed it, we won by a lot. Nobody expected that, that was a lot of emotions.”

Hanna Persson and Alexandria Morgan both set school records in the breaststroke and freestyle. Alexandria also earned the Conference Carolina’s Women’s swimming Elite 26 Award.

The Falcon women also claimed five of the top seven spots in 200-yard backstroke. While head coach Lori Riegler won Conference Carolinas Men’s Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year.

Edu Elizaran Galan brought home an individual title in the men’s 200 backstroke. While Aleksei Kolesnikov followed with a first play finish in the men’s 100-yard freestyle. Ben Johnson also claimed a gold medal in the men’s 200 butterfly.

We crushed it we won by a lot, nobody expected that.

-Aleksei Kolesnikov, men’s swim team member

“We kind of used it as a way to motivate ourselves,” said captain of the men’s swim team Jimmy Franck. “If we did well at this competition maybe the board or the athletic department could see that we’re worth keeping. We’re one of the more successful teams on campus now.”

None of this would have been possible without both teams being determined to find a result, coming together regardless of future program circumstances.

To go out and do the impossible simply became possible, proving that no task is too big, especially for a team.