A 26-year-old tradition will continue this weekend in Erdman Natatorium when the men's swimming team competes in the Tigers' Invitational.
DePauw is hoping to take first place for the fourth straight year at the home invitational.
DePauw finished second in the Woehnker Invitational at Wabash College two Saturdays ago with 645 points, behind Div. II University of Indianapolis, who placed first with 681 points. DePauw is now eager to get back in the pool to host the DePauw Invitational this Friday and Saturday.
"After our last invitational, we have been going through a recovery period," head coach Adam Cohen said. "The team is cutting back on yardage during practice to be well rested for the rest of the season."
The Tigers will be going up against seven other Div. III teams: Wittenberg University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Illinois Wesleyan University, Transylvania University, Rhodes College, Franklin College and Millikin University.
"The team's biggest challenge will be mental because we are in the middle of our season and are still striving to perform at our highest level," Cohen said.
DePauw outscored Wittenberg and Rose-Hulman and in previous meets and invitationals this year. This weekend will be the first opportunity for the Tigers swim against Kenyon, who took second in the NCAC championship last year, which Denison University won.
"The depth of our team is our biggest strength," Cohen said. "Even our seventh and eighth swimmers are really great swimmers."
The Tigers preliminaries will start at 9:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Finals are slated for 6:15 p.m. on Friday and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.