INDIANAPOLIS – The 2018-19 Butler women's swimming season will get underway this weekend with the Bulldogs hosting the Butler Double Dual. Xavier, St. Louis, Eastern Illinois and Evansville will all compete against Butler on Sunday, Sept. 30.
 
"This will be a strong first meet for us in our home pool at Fishers High School," Head Coach Maurice Stewart explained. "I think we will be competitive against some talented programs. Our goal will be to get some BIG EAST Qualifying Times and it will also be a good first evaluation for our freshmen class."
 
Coach Stewart's full breakdown of the 2018-19 schedule can be viewed below.
 
at IUPUI – Oct. 20 – 2 PM
"This will be our first chance to swim at the IUPUI Natatorium," Stewart explained. "We will compete against IUPUI, Western Illinois, and Olivet Nazarene attempting to post some fast times and beat some good teams."
 
at Olivet Nazarene – Oct. 27 – 1 PM
"We will be thick into training during this time, so I think we will be competitive as possible under endurance training stress," Stewart stated. "It will be a tri-meet with UIC joining us. The team will swim fast even though they will be a little tired from the intense training. I think this will be a great set-up meet for the House of Champions Invite."
 
House of Champions Invite at IUPUI – Nov. 16/18 – All Day
The Bulldogs will return to the IUPUI Natatorium for a three-day meet when they compete in the House of Champions Invitational. Coach Stewart's goal for this weekend is simple: "We will use this opportunity to qualify as many swimmers as possible for the BIG EAST Championship Meet."
 
Relay Meet at Indiana State – Dec. 1 – All Day
"This meet is a change from the 2017-18 season when we competed in the pentathlon meet at Wabash," Stewart explained. "It should be a fun, low-key meet to refine relay performances and give us a chance to see who our potential relay swimmers are on this roster."
 
Winter Training Trip – Jan. 7/11 – Deerfield Beach, Fla.
"This is a great training opportunity for student-athletes," Stewart said. "It allows us to strengthen the team bonding with some fun!"
 
10th Annual Butler Invite – Jan. 27 – 12 PM
"There will be some great competition at this year's meet like there always is at our invitational," Stewart stated. "It gives our swimmers once last chance to qualify for the BIG EAST Championships."
 
BIG EAST Championship Meet – Feb. 20/23 – All Day
"This meet returns to the Naussau Aquatic Center in New York so we are familiar with the trip," Stewart said. "Beating Providence like we did last year will once again be our goal. My hope is that we can get more swimmers into the finals and post some school records which will obviously help us score some more points." 
 
Event Breakdown
 
Butterfly
Annah Van Gheem, Emma Harris, Alexis Faith, and Jacque Shrader-Goetz will welcome newcomers Emily Klemptner and Claire Mastrandrea to this event. All of these student-athletes will be a presence in both the 100 and 200 Fly.
 
Captains Rachel Schafer and Megan Rush will be strong as well in the 100 Fly primarily. Adding depth will be Madison Schluchterer (200) and Madison Himler (100).
 
Backstroke
Rachel Burke, Megan Hanson, Sadie Texer, and Claire Mastrandrea will all be very strong in the 200 Back events. Rachel Schafer, Rachel Banks, Ashley Backus, and Carolyn McGrail will add depth in the event.

Captain Tori Horton will lead the team in the 100 back. Sofia Camarillo, Saranne Louth and newcomer Rachel Geller will all be options in the 100 back events.
 
Breaststroke
This event will be led by Emma Spotts, the BU school record holder in both 100 and 200 Breast. Spotts was an A-Finalist at 2018 BIG EAST Championship Meet in both events. Others to watch include Olivia Allen, Natalie Rohweder, Sydney Gurry, Meaghan Mahoney, Carson Middlebrook, Megan Rush and Myranda Valeiras. A pair of freshmen in Mattea Dumdey and Emily Klemptner will also look to make an impact.
 
Freestyle
Our leaders in the sprint free group include senior captain Tori Horton (50-100), Harriet Davies, and Annah Van Gheem. The unit will be a strong force for the team both as individuals and in relay events. Other sprinters to watch for this year are Sofia Camarillo, Mattea Dumdey, Rachel Geller, Isabel Heitmeyer, Emily Klemptner, Madison Himler, and Saranne Louth.
 
Middle distance freestyle swimmers will be led by Abbie Linek, the school record holder in the 500 Free. Megan Hanson, Andee Bauer and newcomer Olivia Klafta are also strong swimmers in this area. Those adding depth will be Sydney Gurry (200), Alexis Faith, Emma Harris, Jacque Shrader-Goetz, Carolyn McGrail, and senior captain Rachel Burke.
 
Long distance freestyle swimmers for Butler this year will be led by Olivia Allen, the school record holder at Butler in the mile. Olivia Klafta and Andee Bauer will also be top talents in longer distance swims. Stewart likes Madison Schluchterer, Megan Hanson, Emma Harris and Abbie Linek to add significant and competitive depth to the team in the distance events.
 
Individual Medley
The 400 IM will be led by school record holder Olivia Allen. Others in line to step up for the team in one of the sports toughest events will be senior captain Megan Rush, Emma Spotts and Alexis Faith.
 
The 200 IM will be led by Emma Spotts. Coach Stewart believes she has the solid strokes and speed to do very well this season. Accompanying Spotts in the event will be Myranda Valeiras, Megan Rush and Rachel Schafer. Others to watch in this event are Natalie Rohweder, Carson Middlebrook, Sydney Gurry, and Alexis Faith.