2000-2001 Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Artistic Swimming
Entering the season as the USSS Collegiate National Champions will have spirits high in 2001 for the Ohio State synchronized swimming team. Head Coach Linda Lichter-Witter hopes to use this winning spirit to carry the Buckeyes through the season and keep the national title in Columbus.
Last season, the Buckeyes beat their rival and two-year national champion, Stanford, in regaining the throne. The title had eluded the Buckeyes for two years while they were national runners-up to the Cardinal. Before hand, the Buckeyes had been undefeated since 1985.
“We had to work a lot harder last season just to get the title back. We had to be better than Stanford,” Lichter-Witter said. “It had to take two years to crawl back to the top and we would like to continue our streak.”
Lichter-Witter and the rest of the Buckeyes intend to stay there but are not going to get ahead of themselves this season.
“I don’t want to be obsessing and stressing and causing all kinds of anxiety in order to keep this championship,” Lichter-Witter said. “I just want to enjoy it.”
While enjoying the excitement of a championship win takes top priority for Lichter-Witter and the Buckeyes right now, planning for the 2001 season has been an ongoing process.
“We are going to pretty much have the same game plan as last season,” Lichter-Witter said. “Keep everyone healthy and doing well in school. We have a plan and we are just going to stick to it.”
The Schedule
The Buckeyes will start the season off at home with the OSU Tri-Meet featuring competition from Keuka College and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Hosting the North Regional Championships again this season will highlight the 2001 schedule. The Collegiate National Championships will be held at the College of William and Mary March 29-31.
Champion Material
The roster for 2001 will be very impressive with the return of Olympians Isabela and Carolina Moraes. After competing for Brazil in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, the undefeated twins will return to OSU in January. Last season, the Moraes twins won first place at Collegiate Nationals in the duet and trio with All-American returnee Mary Hofer. “The twins really have something going here,” Lichter-Witter said. “If they can do it again next year it will really be something. They are going to go down in synchro history books.”
Although the twins left for Olympic training in Brazil last spring and will be missing the first part of the season, Lichter-Witter is confident that the Buckeyes have swimmers who can fill their shoes.
“The fact that after the twins left we still went on to place third at U.S. Nationals is really amazing,” Lichter-Witter said. “We have a fabulous team. When the twins come back in January they will have to learn all the choreography and I am not even worried about it because these kids are so good. We have a lot of depth.”
With Victoria Bowen’s freshman year behind her with a second-place solo finish at the 2000 collegiate nationals and only one loss from last season’s `A’ team, the 2001 Buckeyes are a talent-packed squad.
The Coaching Staff
This year’s coaching staff will be stronger than ever with everyone having had the experience of working together in 2000.
Annemarie Lichter, the new addition to the staff last season, will enter her second year as assistant coach with the Buckeyes.
“Annemarie is just a creative genius so she will continue to pull out these great ideas from thin air.” Lichter-Witter said.
This season will make Holly Vargo-Brown a 10th year Buckeye having been with the Buckeyes as a synchronized swimmer herself to an amazing assistant coach.
“Holly knows so much about being a Buckeye having been a swimmer here for so many years,” Lichter-Witter said. “We really complement each other well.”
The Secret To Success
Ending the season as National Champions and a 40-0 record leaves wonder as to what the secret is behind the Buckeyes’ success.
“The desire to hold on to this title is going to be a main ingredient to our success,” Lichter-Witter said. “They are motivated and they know how special it was to win. I think it is good for them to know what it took to win last year and that it is within their grasp to be able to do it. We know that it is going to take a little more this season to win but we have already done it.”
