At 5 a.m. in the middle of winter, members of the Brandeis swimming and diving team wake up for an early-morning practice. By 5:45, they're ready to board a van headed for Regis College, Bentley College, Babson College or Wellesley College, depending on the day, to get time in the pool to prepare for their weekly meets. After the Linsey pool was closed Oct. 28 when the air-handling system that heats and ventilates the pool stopped working, the team was forced to adjust.

"We didn't have necessarily exactly the same schedule every week. It would depend on when we got pool times and . on what pool we were going to," captain Rachel Nadas '09 said. "It was a challenge, but we were all very committed and wanted to swim, . and we did what we could to make it happen."

Despite the Linsey pool's closure, this year, the men's and women's teams were able to produce one of the most successful seasons in school history.

Though the men's team had a dual-meet record of 4-5, it broke eight school records and sent one swimmer, Marc Eder '12, to the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships for the first time since the Judges sent Matt Christian '05 in 2005. The team placed 16th out of 23 teams at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, the second-highest finish for Division III teams at the meet.

The women's team had a 6-3 dual-meet record and finished 13th out of 26 teams at the ECAC Championships, the best finish out of all Division III teams at the meet. The team broke an impressive 12 school records this season, including all five of the program's relay event marks.

Both teams won the tri-meet Michael Zarilli Memorial Invitational early in the season as well.

"I would say that 95 percent of the goals we wanted to achieve, we achieved," head coach James Zotz said.

A lack of depth plagued the men's team dual-meet record. The team had no divers, which automatically put them 32 points behind its opponent in every meet. Still, the Judges rode James Liu '10, Bobby Morse '09, Aaron Bennett '11 and Eder to a successful season.

Zotz commented on the team's diving situation.

"It affects us in terms of scoring points," he said. "Without any [divers], we were falling behind," he said.

One of the team's biggest accomplishments, however, was sending Eder to the NCAA Championships. Eder competed in the 200-yard breaststroke, 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley.

He finished 47th of 49 in the 200-yard individual medley, 27th out of 36 in the 200-yard breaststroke and 26th out of 42 in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Despite all his success, Eder still hopes to improve his skills.

"I'm nowhere near where I want to be as a swimmer," Eder said. "I don't think we have had a [University Athletic Association] champion at Brandeis in a long time, and I would like to win an event at the UAAs."

The men's team graduates only two seniors (Morse and Mike Rubin), and Jesse Herschman '10 and Alex Cemaj '10 will return after studying abroad this past semester.

The women's team benefited from an impressive rookie swimmer, Angela Chui '12, who accounted for 11 of the 12 school records broken by the team this season. Hollis Viray '10 holds the 12th record broken this season in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Chui broke six individual records in freestyle, backstroke and individual medley events and was a member of the relay team that broke all five of the team's relay marks. The quartet was made up of Chui, Viray, Siobhan Lyons '10 and Julia Derk '12, all of whom will return next season. As a team, the Judges came through in the clutch, breaking eight of the 12 records this season at the ECAC Championships.

Chui fell one space short from qualifying for the NCAA Championships, finishing 21st out of 20 available spots. Ironically, her 400-yard individual medley time at the ECAC Championships would have placed her 13th in the NCAA meet.

"She is very consistent; she is very mentally tough," Zotz said, "And I'm confident that she would have done equally well [as she did at the ECACs]."

"We had a small group, but we had good depth," Zotz added. "Overall, they swam great, they dove great, and it was a good year."

The University currently has no plans to rebuild the pool at an estimated cost of $10 to $12 million in light of the current financial crisis. The swimming and diving program will continue practicing at other schools through the 2009 to 2010 season, but currently the University has no plans to continue the program after that.

With their successes in mind, the men's and women's teams can't help but focus on their uncertain future. Members of the team have met with President Jehuda Reinharz and Director of Athletics Sheryl Sousa '90 to discuss their fate, but as of now, nothing has changed. The team will be suspended upon the completion of the 2010 season.

Zotz plans to work with the team, parents and alumni "to push forward on all fronts" to save the team and follow the golf team's example to resurrect the program, [see story, p. 21]. The team only hopes it can manage to stay afloat.