Both of Eastern’s swimming teams had their Thanksgiving break to think over a pair of losses to St. Louis on Nov. 21. The women’s team (4-2) lost to the Billikens but kept the match extremely close throughout. The men’s team (3-2-1) did not share the same fate, losing to St. Louis in a much worse fashion.

The women suffered their second loss of the season when the Billikens defeated them by a score of 128-114. The Panthers kept the meet close the entire time but just could not pull out the win.

“We kept the match real close the entire time, and we managed to come back strong in a couple of events,” said head coach Ray Padovan. “We had a couple swimmers put up strong first and second place finishes, and overall, we swam well.”

One swimmer who proved Padovan’s point was senior Allison Kenny. Kenny finished strong for Eastern by taking first place in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events with times of 54.42 and 1:58.70 respectively. Also putting in solid efforts were senior Beth Rhodes and freshman Jenny Curry. Rhodes won the 100-meter butterfly while Curry took first in the 50 meter freestyle event.

All together, the effort put forth by the women was encouraging, but they were still unable to take the victory. Nevertheless, Padovan was optimistic after the match to see his swimmers able to stay with the Billikens.

The men, however, had a tough match against St. Louis and finished the match down by a score of 142-92. Unlike the women, the men were unable to stay consistently close to the Billikens and finished well below the score they needed.

The Panthers struggled to hang with the Billikens, but overall, they knew that they had just run up against a better team.

“We swam well, but not exceptional, and they were a very talented team,” said Padovan. “Our good players got beat, and the rest of the team couldn’t step up for them. They just flat out beat us.”

But coming our of the match, Padovan was surprisingly upbeat about his team. Even though they lost to the Billikens, the Panthers are looking to turn around and start winning again.

“We are still fine coming out of this match. We had some good swims in that meet, and we don’t feel bad about that defeat,” said Padovan.

Upcoming will be a meet on Dec. 8 where both teams will head to Carmel, Ind. to face Butler before heading to Florida over winter break. From Dec. 29 to Jan. 10 the Panthers will participate in the Ft. Lauderdale Swim Forum and the Ed Kennedy East/West meet.