Macalester's women's and men's swimming and diving teams closed out the 2002–03 season Feb. 20–22 at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championships at the University of Minnesota. The Scots produced their best MIAC women's finish ever by placing fourth out of 10 teams, three spots higher than last year, while the Macalester men took sixth out of eight teams. The women's high conference finish capped off their best regular-season dual meet campaign ever and head coach Bob Pearson was named MIAC Women's Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.

"I personally feel that this season was awesome. Although our team was small we accomplished many great things," Heather Lendway '06 said.

Liz Fitzgerald '04, Heather Lendway '06 and Lisa Lendway '03 reached the finals in multiple events to lead the way for the Scots.

Fitzgerald earned All-MIAC honors by placing third in the 3-meter diving competition with a score of 404.80 and added a fifth-place finish on the 1-meter board, scoring 342.00 points. Heather Lendway was a finalist in three events, placing fourth in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:15.31, fifth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:59.24, a school record, and fifth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:13.81, also a school record. Lisa Lendway took fifth in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:48.04 and seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:34.76, breaking a school record. Natalie Ross '05 placed seventh in the 200 back in a time of 2:15.55 and Janna Lundquist '03 was eighth in the 100 back with a time of 1:03.78. The Scots placed fourth in the 800 free relay of Julie Rokosky '03, Ross, H. Lendway and L. Lendway finishing in 8:13.09 and 400 free relay of Johanna Moore '03, Ross, H. Lendway and L. Lendway finishing in 3:46.39. Both times broke Macalester school records as did the 200 freestyle relay of Ann Townsend '03, Moore, Ross, and H. Lendway and the 400 medley relay of Emma Hansen '04, L. Lendway, Moore, and H. Lendway also broke school records.

"Our women's (and men's) team has great camaraderie and I think our high finish at conference this year is a reflection of how we helped each other to swim fast and dive well," Moore said. "I think the key to our success at conference besides the many people we had in finals was our relays. We consistently placed high in our relays the whole meet, which scored a lot of points," she continued.

For the men's team Joe Hanes '03 wrapped up a great career at Macalester by leading the way for the Scots. Hanes picked up two more all-conference certificates by earning a pair of top-three finishes. He placed second in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:15.71 and third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:48.29. Hanes also took seventh in the 1650 free, finishing in17:09.18. Erik Nelson '03 also had a strong finish to his collegiate swimming career by placing sixth in both the 50 freestyle, in 21.92, and the 100 butterfly, in 54.93.