In preparation for their Friday night meet at Wittenberg University, the Tigers' swimming program isn't taking any breaks.
"We're working through a tough portion of the season in which we get little rest," said sophomore Duncan MacMillan. The No. 11 ranked Tigers are doing so in their continuation of their dual-meet schedule. They are coming off of an impressive 155-136 victory over Washington University in St. Louis this past Saturday. Although they may be worn out from recent competition, the Tigers understand the process.
"Our bodies are broken down during this process," MacMillan said. "We are training through to have more experience under our belts before we taper."
Their experience this season has already shown recent signs of success. Junior Casey Hooker notched three individual wins in the 1,000 freestyle (9:49:59), 200 butterfly (1:55:51) and the 500 free (4:41:39) against Washington University. Hooker joined senior Jack Burgeson, and sophomores Alex Grissom and Blake Lehmann in the meets 400 free relay, winning by a margin of nearly five seconds. For his performance, Hooker was named NCAC Player of the Week.
The Lady Tigers' 400 free relay squad saw similar success in the same meet, placing second. The pack included junior Emily Weber, first-years Kirsten Olson,Jennifer Norehad and sophomore Dana Zerbini. Weber went on to win the 1,000 yard freestyle in (10:39:72). But these accomplishments weren't enough for the Tigers, who lost the meet to the Bears 214-74.
The Tigers intend on capitalizing off of these performances while putting their training into perspective. The Tigers have had successful outings against Wittenberg in recent years. Additionally, both squads will travel to Kenyon College in Ohio for the Total Performance Sports Camp Invitational. Kenyon has a rich history of national-best teams. The women's squad is ranked No. 1, while the men are No.2. Both of DePauw's teams want to be fully ready for the Lords.
This can be accomplished by maintaining intensity, according to men's coach Adam Cohen. Although the team has focused on long-term goals, they are still centered on Wittenberg. In order to stay in their successful groove, the Tigers still have to perform on Friday. Cohen compared the swim team's schedule to that of the Cross Country team, in that they will focus on mileage this week and in upcoming weeks,but will still keep conference competition in the back of their heads.
To the Tigers, the more that is accomplished now, the more that will be accomplished later.
"The more you put in the more you get out," said senior Matt Haeske, "[For dual meets] we often swim tired so that we can get more out of our end of the year meets."
The men's and women's teams take on the Tigers Friday night at 7 p.m. The men haven't lost a dual meet since being trumped by University of Chicago in January 2010.