As they exit the middle of their season, the swim team has prepared themselves for their postseason with showings at recent meets and a boosted team morale.
To start, junior Ryan Smith remarked on the team’s youthfulness and the effect that has had on training. “With such a young team it took a bit longer to get everyone on the same page training-wise than it has in years past but at this point in the season everyone is in great shape and working very hard,” Smith said.
The team is coming off a string of victories with a third place finish at the Phoenix Invitational as well as one in a dual meet with Wabash College. “I think the team is in a fantastic spot coming out of our mid-season meets” said Smith “We are on track to finish out the rest of the season strong.”
These competitions have also boosted the team’s attitude. “We grow more confident in each other with each passing day” said junior Josh McCown, “these competitions have shown our ability to stay mentally strong and connected as a team.”
Smith mentioned another benefit of these strong performances: “With all of this, I see the team coming together and working hard everyday to maintain our success and improve even more as the season continues.”
Looking forward, the team has set high goals regarding conference and national standings. “As a team we are striving to send multiple relays to the national championships in March along with multiple swimmers in individual events” said Smith.
All three mentioned a goal to beat Wabash at the conference championships later this season. “Though the team has handily beat Wabash at both invite and dual meets, the team would like to continue its winning streak over Wabash at the conference meet at the end of the season” said junior Charlie Stewart-Bates.
The athletes also expressed what they are looking forward to in the season. “I look forward to seeing teammates putting their hearts in the pool everyday and the rewarding swims at the end of the season” said McCown. Both Smith and McCown are anticipating the team’s upcoming winter training trip in Florida.
Stewart-Bates talked about his hopes for the team’s future. “With less than two seasons left in the program I am hopeful that both the Junior and Senior classes can take the program to new places.”
As of now the team is exiting the midseason portion of their schedule. “We have a long break until our next competition so it’s time to ramp up the intensity and work as hard as possible through winter break” said Mccown.
Overall, early successes have sowed seeds of success in the team, according to McCown. He said, “Morale is very high heading into our long dry spell of competition”