Hepburn earns second conference honor this season

It was a busy and productive weekend in the pool for Bahamian junior swimmer Jamilah Hepburn this past weekend as she competed in a number of events and came away with her second Northeast-10 (NE10) Conference Rookie of the Week honor for women’s swimming and diving.

The Stonehill College Skyhawks freshman was in action at the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Winter Championships that wrapped up on Sunday at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, Long Island, New York. Earning the award again was exciting for her, she said.

“It was very rewarding. I’m quite humbled and excited to receive the award again. I tried my best to start the first half of the season with high energy and finish it with the same high energy and intensity. Now, it’s time to relax and then focus on the second half of the season,” Hepburn said.

The Skyhawks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II level. Hepburn first earned the honor for the week of November 15-21.

This past weekend, she recorded the fastest time in the NE10 in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking a school-record time of 1:06.18 in the preliminaries of that event on Saturday morning to qualify for the ‘B’ final. Later that evening, she came back and won the ‘B’ final with a time of 1:06.29. That placed her at ninth overall out of 64 swimmers.

On Sunday evening, Hepburn was in the pool swimming in the 200-yard breast in the ‘C’ final where she finished third. She clocked 2:28.41 and finished 19th overall. This comes after posting 2:28.33 in the preliminaries that morning.

Hepburn also has the fastest time in NE10 in the 50-yard breast with a time of 30.68 seconds.

Hepburn holds the school record in all three of the breaststroke events.

“I feel my performances right now display my best effort in training and racing. I feel I am progressing slowly, but surely, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I feel like I can only go forward from this point,” Hepburn said.

The Bahamian also competed in the 50-yard and the 100-yard free events this past weekend. In the 50-yard free, she touched the wall in 26.08 seconds and placed 61st overall out of 107 swimmers. She swam 58.15 seconds in the 100-yard free and placed 61st again, this time out of 89 competitors.

This past weekend, she also swam in the 200-yard free relay, the 200-yard medley relay, the 400-yard free relay and the 400-yard medley relay. In the 200-yard free relay, her team finished the race in 1:42.10 to place 13th. The 200-medley relay team clocked 1:50.74 to finish 12th. The 400-yard medley team clocked 4:01.25 to finish 11th. In the 400-yard free, Hepburn and her teammates finished 15th overall when they posted a time of 3:47.03.

The Bahamian has recorded three event wins, eight top-three finishes and 10 top-five finishes in her 17 individual swims so far this season.

As the first half of the season ends, Hepburn will look to train harder and faster. She has gone past her goals in the first half and, like any hungry athlete, will look to set new goals and break them in the second half of the season.

The Skyhawks return to action on Saturday, January 15, 2022 in a meet against the University of Massachusetts Darthmouth Corsairs that gets underway at noon.

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