Beginning on a 3-0 record to start their season, the men’s swimming and diving team is looking to continue their strong start in their upcoming Jean Freeman Invitational in Minneapolis, MN on Dec. 2.
Senior captain Ian Disteldorf said the team has set a goal of beating Wheaton, while fellow senior captain Bryce Dibadj said the team wants to “keep up with Carthage in terms of points.”
Disteldorf also said there are more goals beyond the meet, but are hoping to use the invitational as a bench mark for the season.
“We have been setting a lot of goals recently and the meet on Dec 2 is half way through the season,” Disteldorf said. “It is a really good indicator of where we are and where we can go in the future. “Both captains believe the freshmen class will be a huge influence whether the team can make those goals.
The team is made up of a lot more freshmen this year than it has been in previous years. This year, the team brought in 12 freshmen, whereas last year there were only seven freshman swimmers.
Disteldorf said the freshmen are a huge benefit to the team.
“The freshmen add a lot of depth. They are definitely a key factor for our team,” Disteldorf said. “We take all of the freshmen that we can get with a positive attitude.”
Head coach Dan Lloyd also talked about the importance of having a big class of freshman.
“Having a lot of freshmen is a huge positive,” Lloyd said. “They have integrated into the team very well, and they fill a lot of the empty seats that we had going to meets.”
One way the team integrate and work together with the freshmen was through their team building skills. This includes a trip to California during fall break.
Disteldorf said this was important because “the more the teams know each other, the better we swim.”
Dibadj added that the team has done other team bonding activities beyond the trip to California.
“We have really tried to add in more team building this year than we have in the past,” Dibadj said. “The team had a scavenger hunt and they planted trees together to get to know each other better.”
The emphasis on building the connections on the team was a strong point the captains said they wanted to hit on this year. Lloyd said he is very pleased with his team’s captain’s performances.
“The captains have done a great job of what captains do best: keeping the team a team and more importantly, a family,” said Lloyd.