Obviously, depth plays an important role in swimming. Without water depth, there is no pool.

And without depth on a swimming team, there are no team victories.

The Iowa State women’s swim team found both depths to its liking Saturday in a meet at St. Olaf. The Cyclones raced past the Oles by the final score of 139-101.

Like the ISU men’s team, the women Cyclones swam “exhibition” races to keep from scoring more points on the Division III opposition.

Despite the sub-par competition, the Cyclones gained valuable experience from the meet.

“It was a very good meet for us,” Coach Duane Sorenson said. “It gave us a chance to see how versatile we are.”

He said he was able to mix up the ISU lineup by letting his swimmers race in different events and give his second and third-string swimmers “a chance to stand up and shine.”

ISU swimmers placed first in 10 of the 13 events on the evening and captured both first and second in over half of them.

Sorenson was especially pleased with the top-two finishes nabbed by Dara Rose and Leslie Gaeth in the 100 backstroke.

ISU swept both diving competitions, the one-meter and three-meter events, with place-winners Erin Cowan, Aleisha Kraft and Thea Hoeg.

The added experience and depth will be necessary for the women’s upcoming meet against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

In addition to the powerful Hawks, another obstacle the women will have to overcome is the loss of freshman Kim Reid. Reid, a top swimmer on the team, was diagnosed with mononucleosis last week and is out indefinitely.

She was ranked 23rd nationally in the 100 breaststroke.

Sorenson said other swimmers who “step up and do a little bit more” will now have to compensate for the loss of Reid.

One person who must take the step into the leadership role is ISU’s senior co-captain Mara Paape.

Sorenson is confident Paape can meet the challenge.

“She instills what Cyclone pride and being a Cyclone swimmer is all about,” he said.

Sorenson said his swimmers will be heavy underdogs when teams hit the starting blocks at noon Saturday at the Beyer Hall pool, but he said a win is not out of the question.

“If everything goes our way and they slip up,” Sorensen said his team has a chance. But more importantly, “It’s an opportunity to explore and see how good we are,” he said.

“That meet [against Iowa] everyone gets up for. We’re really excited,” Paape said. “I think we’re going to see a lot of fast times.”

But instead of a dual meet victory, the athletes are shooting to accomplish individual goals. He said every swimmer will be going for a seasonal best, just like they have been all year.

He said so far the team is progressing at the expected pace and should to be in top form for the important meets next semester. “We’re doing everything we can for the Big 12 meet,” he said.

Sorenson said he is encouraged by the “team atmosphere” his athletes generate.

At the beginning of the year, all 25 swimmers were going in different directions, but now “everyone’s on the same page,” he said.

Paape is also encouraged. She said the season has gone very well and contributed some of the season’s success to her coach’s enthusiasm and the team’s closeness.