KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown women's swim team is more motivated than ever heading into the 2024-25 regular season. With the reemergence of the men's swim program, there is a new sense of excitement and energy inside Keystone Natatorium as the new season begins this week.
 
The Golden Bears open their campaign with the first meet of the season, a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference dual meet at Shippensburg Wednesday evening.
 
"We've got a huge program now," said head coach Tim Flannery, beginning his 28th season at the helm. "The numbers are higher than they've been in a long time and they're only going to keep getting bigger. And that's due in large part to the men's program coming back. But there is a lot of excitement around our program and extra motivation from the women's side."
 
According to Flannery, there has been some friendly competition between the two programs and the swimmers want to consistently improve times and swim faster than each other, which will only make each other better in the long run.
 
Kutztown graduated one of the most decorated swimmers in program history last year in Gracie McKee (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown), who was a multi-event PSAC champion and medalist. So, the Golden Bears will need to have others step up from an individual standpoint to help out as a whole. The good thing is, a majority of the roster is back from last season, including 15 of the 18 rostered swimmers.
 
PSAC championship qualifiers back from last season include Annamarie Rodier (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape), Ana Soto (Hamburg, N.J./Vernon Township), Tatum Rothermel (Halifax, Pa./Halifax), Jade Ware (Easton, Pa./Wilson Area), Frannie Pease-Wingenter (Goodyear, Ariz./Millennium) and Birta Smaradottir (Mosfellsbær, Iceland/Commercial College of Iceland). This will be a core group that will lead the Maroon and Gold this season.
 
"We expect a lot out of them with their experience," Flannery said. "I think they're competitiveness will rub off on the team and we have a lot of new faces that we will be looking to make contributions."
 
Following the meet with the Raiders, Kutztown will compete in the PSAC Fall Invite with several other conference teams on Friday, Oct. 11. The home opener is set for Saturday, Oct. 26, against East Stroudsburg.