NORTON, MA- In her second year as the Wheaton College synchronized swimming head coach, Rebecca Story is emphasizing a program-wide recommitment to the sport as the Lyons look to record a top-10 finish at the United States Collegiate Championship for the 21st straight season after claiming eighth in 2008. The process began with Story, who focused on assembling a smaller corps of driven, talented athletes for her first recruiting class instead of attracting large numbers that would have helped create a deep roster.

"I try to make sure I bring in really passionate swimmers who cannot live without synchro," said the coach. "It really starts from the top down, and the upperclassmen have done an amazing job stepping up and leading the freshmen and showing them what being a part of the Wheaton synchro family really means. Everyone's on board in knowing that to meet our vision for the program, we have to continue to recruit more elite athletes. With this in mind, the veterans' contributions are going to be slightly different because some of my freshmen are my top swimmers."

Contingent upon qualifying, Wheaton's recommitment has led the team to decide to compete at the United States National Championship from April 30-May 2, when the top college and amateur teams in the country descend upon Stanford University. The team qualified last year but decided not to attend.

In looking further down the road, some swimmers have expressed an interest about competing at senior national team trials, which Story did during and after college. Additionally, the commitment the swimmers have shown in immersing themselves in the sport has extended beyond the pool, as three athletes and two assistant coaches are working toward their judging certification so they can judge age-group meets.

While some of the program's priorities have shifted, the focus of Story and her team remain on having successful showings at the East Collegiate Regional and U.S. Collegiate Championship, both of which occur in March. Remaining one of the top teams in the area is also a goal.

"Right now our biggest competition is Keuka College, and we're aiming to become more competitive with the Division I and II teams around the nation," said Story, a 2006 Keuka graduate. "What I did was try to make sure we weren't competing against Keuka every other weekend like last year so we weren't constantly seeing the team we're always compared with."

The Lyons and Storm matched up six times in eight meets last year, with Keuka finishing ahead of Wheaton by an average of 21.7 points during the first three meetings. In the final three competitions, during which the Lyons performed a pair of trio routines instead of only one, the Blue and White finished three, two and 2.5 points, respectively, short of the Storm.

Joining Story on the coaching staff are second-year assistant Renata Paglio '07 and first-year assistant Sarah Swinkin '07, alumnae who provide a perspective somewhat different than Story's.

"They know where Wheaton's been, and they buy into the vision for the future of the program," said Story. "They also connect in a different way than I will ever be able to connect with the swimmers, in terms of balancing synchro with Wheaton's rigorous academic schedule and relating their experiences about what it means to swim for this program."

Despite fielding a short 10-member roster, which includes six freshmen, the team is ahead of where it was at this point in 2007. Story said Wheaton's team routine is completely written and the smaller routines are nearing completion after the choreography of the team routine needed tweaking at this time last year.

"We've been restructuring the program in the way we use our time," said Story. "This is allowing us to focus a lot on drilling, on aerobic exercises and our conditioning." Story said a recent visit from United States Synchronized Swimming President Duke Zielinski and Olympic gold medalist Karen Josephson helped the athletes and her decide how to better prioritize and spend their time.

Comprising the roster's segment of returning athletes are senior Sharada Strasmore (Weston, CT/Weston), junior co-captains Laura Montes (San Juan, PR/Academia San Jose) and Jenna Swinkin (Hamden, CT/Hamden) and sophomore Sarah Bertrand (Derry, NH/Pinkerton Academy). Strasmore returns to the program after a year away, as she earned U.S. Synchronized Swimming All-Collegiate honors in 2007. Montes drew that same accolade each of her first two seasons, while Swinkin serves as a captain for the second time.

Six swimmers on Wheaton's youth-heavy roster are freshmen, with Christiana Butera (San Diego, CA/Academy of Our Lady of Peace), Amanda Chils (Lakeland, FL/George Jenkins), Rachel Cordo (Wayzata, MN/Wayzata), Anastasia Hare (Buffalo, NY/Buffalo Seminary) and Katherine Verbarg (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Blue Point) all coming from beyond the region to join the team. Classmate Alicia Maher (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) hails from New England.

Montes and Strasmore will perform solo routines, while Butera is slated to take on a solo at the East Collegiate Regional in an effort to qualify for the U.S. Collegiate Championship. Butera and Chils will join forces for a duet, as will Cordo and Swinkin. Wheaton's trio routines will be performed by combinations of Butera, Chils and Montes, as well as Cordo, Strasmore and Swinkin. The team routine employs eight swimmers in Butera, Chils, Cordo, Hare, Montes, Strasmore, Swinkin and Verbarg.

In figures, Montes is the Lyons' lone A competitor, Butera, Strasmore and Swinkin will take part at B, Chils, Cordo, Hare and Verbarg are in the C category, and Bertrand is expected to see time at D. As of the preseason, Maher was sidelined with an injury.

The Blue and White's schedule includes two figure meets to begin the campaign, on November 23 and January 10, before the Lyons jump into full-fledged competitions with the Wheaton Invitational on January 31. A trip to Canisius and Keuka on February 7 and 8 is followed by Boston University's tri-meet on February 22, and the East Collegiate Regional will be back at Keuka on March 7 and 8.

Wheaton hosts the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship on March 21 and 22, and the U.S. Collegiate meet takes place from March 26-28 at the University of the Incarnate Word in Texas before the team hopes its season extends to the U.S. National Championship.

"It's definitely a much more intense program this year than it was last year, and it will continue to get that way," said Story. "The athletes that are coming in expect that."