As the smell of chlorine filled the air, shouting swimmers chanted “FAMU RELAY” before they splashed into the water at Saturday’s Orange and Green Intersquad meet.
The Orange and Green meet is an event where the FAMU swimmers get to show off the hard work and effort they have put in since the school year started.
The swimmers were split up into the orange and green teams. The meet consisted of six events: two relays, freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and breast stroke competitions.
During an intermission the diving competition was held.
Diver Gary Banks surprised the crowd with an inward one and a half pike. Senior Rhonda Miller did a one and a half tuck followed by a gainer summer salt.
Three school records were broken in the meet. Sophomore Arie Muhammad broke the breast stroke record with a time of 2:39.69.
Teammate Dominique Thornton set a new record for the butterfly with a time of 2:27. Douglas Carrington also swam his way to a new record in the backstroke with a time of 2:06.48.
“This is a great beginning and I see potential,” said Talia Hicks, the co-captain of the women’s team. “FAMU needs to watch out for us swimmers. They need to come and support other sports, because it is not just about football and basketball.”
As the meet went on, motivation and determination filled the FAMU aquatic center as each swimmer cheered for their teammates.
“This was a big motivation and it lets me know what the team is capable of and what we can accomplish together.” said Dominique Thornton, a freshman swimmer.
By the end of the meet the green team had come from behind to beat the orange team in two close races. Afterwards the teams congratulated each other, and vowed to continue their hard work for the remaining swim meets.
“The Orange and Green meet was a great way to start the year. It is a larger squad and every year I’ve seen it grow and grow. Through their swimming the swimmers have really shown some positive potential.” said senior swimmer Jonathan Smith.
The team hopes to get even more support for their upcoming meet Oct. 26. “We need more crowd support”, said Dominique Thornton. “This is going to be a great season.”