At the start of a race, swimmers take their positions and anxiously await to take the dive.  

Senior Brianna Lucien, wearing Vandal black and gold, looks to break five minutes in a 500-meter race. She has been looking to conquer this goal since taking up the sport.  

When she reached the finish, looked at her finishing time and exited the pool, she had tears in her eyes. Her teammates had tears in their eyes as well. Lucien had broken five minutes.  

This memory from Lucien might best encapsulate what kind of bond the eight Idaho Swimming and Diving seniors had built over the last four years.  

“It was just this amazing moment where I knew that they had my back, and they’d been my biggest fans for four years,” Lucien said.  

When joining the program, none of the athletes or coaching staff could have projected this group forming one of the tightest bonds in Moscow.  

“Did I know how tight they would be as a group? No, I didn’t, because they’re so different,” Idaho Head Coach Mark Sowa said. “These are eight very different personalities and that’s their strength, because they’re so divergent.” 

The theme of family is something that resonates all around vandal athletics, stretching from the pool to the hardwood.  

Lucien, Heather Carbon, Cassie Dallas, Lauren Hall, Aimee Iwamoto, Katy Older, Samantha Sentenn and Kayla Stanley came to Moscow only sharing the love of swim and dive but ended up creating something that will last well past their final meet.

“Coming from Hawaii, I was really nervous to move kind of across country to a different state not knowing anyone,” Iwamoto said. “But being a part of this team and being a Vandal has really made these four years, probably the best four years of my life.”  

On Feb. 7, Idaho won its final home meet against conference rival New Mexico State.  

In the upcoming western athletic conference championships, the seniors feel they are going to end their collegiate careers on their highest note yet.  

“We’ve been training hard. (Mark Sowa has) been giving us a great set. We are heading into what I hope will be the best meet of all of our careers,” Iwamoto said.  

No matter what happens though, these seniors have a bond that they will cherish for years to come.  

“I can’t imagine doing this without them. They’ve been my rock for the last four years now, and I’m so grateful that I came in with the girls I did,” Dallas said. “We’ve developed lifelong friendships out of this. We will continue to talk to each other after the fact, and I really couldn’t have done this without them.”  

With the four years seemingly going by in a blur, Sowa wants to give his seniors a final message before heading to Houston on what this team means to him.  

“I’m so proud of this group. They’re incredible people. They’re incredible women. They’ve made this program better, but what I’m excited about is that they’re going to make this world better. To be a small part of that; I’m so lucky. So, thank you,” Sowa said.  

Zack Kellogg can be reached at arg-sportsuidaho.edu or on Twitter @kellogg_zack.