Wendy Somers ’85 was a three-time All-American swimmer for Franklin & Marshall College, placing sixth at the 1982–83 NCAA meet in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 28.59, and in 1984–85 tying for fourth in the 50-yard freestyle (24.86) and placing eighth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.79). A co-captain her senior season, the Madison, N.J., native was twice named team MVP, and at the time of her graduation, her 24.86 time in the 50-yard freestyle was a school record that stood for nearly 20 years.
Barbara O’Hora, F&M’s coach at that time, wrote in the season synopsis after Somers’ senior year that she led the team “in two very important ways—vocally in her support of the program and physically in her efforts, both in practice and in meets. She always gave it 100 percent. She was a pleasure to coach, a super kid.”
O’Hora, now Barbara O’Hora Flick, still has warm memories of Somers.
“What I remember was that she was a real positive person, a real team player—whatever it took,” Flick said. “When she came in, we had an All-American backstroker and I know she wanted to be the leading backstroker. Sometimes she was, sometimes she wasn’t. But she was willing to learn other things and be what we needed her to be.”
As a sophomore in 1982–83, Somers finished third in the Middle Atlantic Conference championships in the 100-yard backstroke, sixth in the 200-yard backstroke and eighth in the 50-yard freestyle, while contributing to medley relay and freestyle relays teams that placed third and fourth, respectively.
She qualified for nationals in four events, earning All-America status with her sixth-place finish in the 50-yard backstroke, a personal best. She also competed in the 100-yard backstroke, with her 1:03.84 clocking another personal best, and was part of the 200-medley and 400-medley relay teams.
The following year she refined her technique—changing from short, quick strokes to longer, more even strokes—allowing her to expand her repertoire to include 100- and 200-yard swims. That season she won the 50-yard freestyle at the MAC championships in a school-record time of 25.16, and captured the 50-yard backstroke at the same meet.
Again she qualified for nationals, this time in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke, but she finished 13th in both events, falling one place short of All-America honors. There was some consolation in the latter event, as she swam a personal-best 1:03.0.
She capped off her career with a superb senior season, winning the 100-yard backstroke at the league meet in a personal-best time of 1:02.9 and finishing second in the 50-yard freestyle. She was also the sole F&M qualifier, from either the men’s or women’s teams, for the NCAA meet in Atlanta, and in addition to her school-record time in the 50-yard freestyle, she once again established a personal best in the 100-yard backstroke, swimming it in 1:02.08 in the preliminaries.
Somers held the school record in the 50-yard freestyle at the time of her graduation, and she was also part of a 400-yard freestyle relay team that held a school mark. She held Fackenthal Pool records in the 50-yard freestyle and the 50-yard backstroke, and she was part of a 200-yard medley relay team and 400-yard freestyle relay team that owned records in the Diplomat swimmers’ former home.
Among her greatest athletic memories, Somers mentions the 1984 MAC championships, traveling to the 1985 nationals with her mother and Coach O’Hora Flick, and the home pool advantage in Fackenthal Swimming Pool. She also notes the grueling twice-a-day swim workouts and team bus rides to away meets.
Swimming continues to be a lifelong passion for Somers. She is certified as a lifeguard and a water safety instructor, and has Aquatic Exercise Association certification. She has been married to her husband, Jim, for 26 years and they have a son, Drew. Somers is employed at Foulkeways at Gwynedd CCRC as
an aquatics director, currently in
hospice administration.
