NORTHFIELD, Minn. – With a renewed level of energy and national-caliber swimmers on both teams, the St. Olaf College men's and women's swimming and diving teams begin their 2021-22 seasons on Sunday at the Augsburg Invitational in Minneapolis.

After not being able to compete last season and having the NCAA Division III Championships canceled the year before, St. Olaf is eager to return to competition this season. As difficult as it was to not compete since the 2019-20 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships, head coach Bob Hauck thinks the loss of the last one-plus seasons has led to an elevated level of excitement heading into 2021-22.

"In terms of energy, I think it has been really good so far," Hauck said. "I think a lot of it is driven by the sophomores, who were here last year but did not get to compete. They are really anxious to get going and that drives a lot of the rest of the team too."

On the women's side, this year's team is led by seniors Maya Knutson and Sophia Nevin, who both returned for a fifth year of eligibility. Both have been national qualifiers for the Oles, with Knutson qualifying in 2020 as part of the 800-yard freestyle relay and Nevin earning Honorable Mention All-American honors in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2019. On the men's side, St. Olaf is led by junior Tim Rizzo, who was a national qualifier two years ago before the meet was canceled.

"Maya and Sophia set a good tone for the women and Tim does that for the men," Hauck said. "So we have some of those national-caliber simmers who are instrumental in creating the kind of environment that we have. People are here to work hard and I think they have been doing that really well."

As much as the team is looking forward to returning to competing, Hauck says the team is also relishing the ability to have the team experience that is so important to the program after being unable to have the typical team atmosphere last year.

"For me, one of the vital things that we missed last year was the continuity of team traditions and culture that we have established over 50 years that we didn't get to do," Hauck said of last year. "I think that is something that is probably more unique to us because we have had so much of that continuity, so not having that last year hurt. We've already had so much more this year than we were able to have last year like everybody else and seeing the enthusiasm is pretty exciting going into our first meet this week."

Despite not being able to compete last year, Hauck says the teams made the most out of what they were able to do. "I think some of the real positives was the continuity of training," he said. "We were literally able to train every available day that we had. Last year's first years were super committed and that has transitioned into this year."

With the lack of a season last year, Hauck says this year's teams feel young on both the men's and women's sides, but there are also a handful of experienced all-conference-caliber swimmers on both teams.

For the men, senior Sjon Greseth is a multiple-time All-MIAC honoree and was the conference champion in the 500-yard freestyle as a first year back in 2018-19, while classmate Harris Kramer brings experience on the diving board. Sophomores Jaden Chant, Marcus Hauck, Oscar Hanifl, and Daniel Bloedow also figure to make an immediate impact on the conference level.

For the women, junior Maria Newton was the conference champion in the 100-yard butterfly and earned all-conference honors in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle at the 2020 MIAC Championships, while classmate Annika Cleven swam on three all-conference relays and scored in several individual events. Fellow junior Brydie Stewart also scored at the conference meet two years ago and the team has a collection of six divers who figure to help add to the team's point total this year.

The Oles get their season under way at the Augsburg Invitational at the University of Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on Sunday before hosting three consecutive meets early in the season. St. Olaf hosts the Northfield Colleges Quad Classic at Northfield Middle School on Saturday, Oct. 30 before welcoming Saint John's/Saint Ben's and Gustavus to campus for dual meets the following two Saturdays.

Without competing for so long, it is hard to know exactly how the season will shape up, but the early-season MIAC duals will go a long way in helping the teams see where they stand.

"Those meets will kind of give us an idea of where we are at compared to the rest of the conference," Hauck said. "On the women's side, we have a little more depth to compete in dual meets and we have some top-end quality on the men's side that should really show at the conference level."