Rice Swim celebrates seniors

By Kathleen Ortiz     1/30/24 10:51pm

Prior to their meet against the University of Miami on Jan. 27, the swim team celebrated their seniors. The senior class includes Lauren Brantley, Mimi Filkin, Briana Gellineau, Lauren Hurt, Imogen Meers, Elizabeth Myers and Hunter Smith.

Lauren Hurt

College: Sid Richardson

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Pre-meet meal: Spaghetti and meatballs. I’ve been eating that meal the night before every meet since I was like 12 years old.

Fake event: If I had to make up any event, I would make the 4x200 medley relay because I think medley relays are so fun to watch, and that’s the next distance up that doesn’t already exist. Good luck to the people swimming it, though. Couldn’t be me, y’all stay safe out there.

Favorite memory: My favorite Rice Swim memory is when [head coach] Seth [Huston] found [a] kid’s underwear on the pool deck and put it on the stick of a pool net and was trying to touch us with them while we were swimming. It reminded me that I’m so grateful to have such a fun coach and be a part of an amazing program that I feel like genuinely makes my life better.

Hunter Smith

College: Duncan

Pre-meet meal: Sausage egg and cheese biscuit, Mott’s applesauce squeeze and water

Pump up music: Anything Hip Hop or even House Music. I like to listen to fast beats which get me pumped up. My top meet songs is Big Sean’s “I Don’t Fuck With You,” Kanye’s “Black Skinhead” and T.I.’s “Bring Em Out.”

Favorite memory on the team: My favorite memory was the open water swim we did as a team on training trip 2023. You can ask anyone. I was terrified of the jellyfish and just completing the swim overall. I went through the five stages of grief. My assistant coach Jess was about to swim along with me. When it was my turn to go, my group said we would stay together. I hopped in with no one around me at first, but I remember mid-swim being surrounded by others and screaming across the ocean because we were all lost for a moment. My team cheering me on helped, and we ended the day body surfing waves until sunset. This is my favorite memory because there were some people who were a little cautious or scared to complete the swim. Still, the team cheered them up and helped them along the way by being a swim partner, and that shows our compassion for one another and the ability to push each other forward. 

Mimi Filkin

College: Hanszen

Pre-meet meal: For the morning before a race, if we’re at home I love making a smoothie bowl. Good for hydration and some energy.

Pump up music: Honestly, I listen to anything before a meet. Just songs that I love will always get me hype even if they’re really sad. Before my best race of the season I listened to “illicit affairs” by Taylor Swift, so a very sad song but it worked.

What will be missed most about Rice swimming: ​​I will definitely miss the community the most. The swim team is the best group of my favorite people. I will definitely still have that community after leaving, but I will miss seeing them everyday and goofing around at practices and meets with them so so much. I’ll even miss being grumpy at 5 a.m. with them. It’s all gone by way too quickly. I wish I could slow down time and make these last few months last forever.    

Lauren Brantley

College: Duncan

Pre-meet meal: Pasta the night before.

Fake event: If I could make up an event, I would have a 200 reverse IM (free, breast, back, fly).

Favorite memory on the team: I love Blue/Grey week every year, but my favorite Blue/Grey week event was when we played inner tube water polo my sophomore year. It was really fun being able to play in small teams with the girls and compete against each other. As an individual sport, we don’t usually get to compete together, so it was really fun being able to work on our teamwork skills and create fun memories together.  

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