After the Augie Swim team competed in the Grinnell Invite, where the men finished 3rd out of 7 teams and the women finished 4th out of 10 teams, the Vikings look ahead to a contest against Wheaton on Sat, February 3rd.
When talking to Assistant Coach, Ian Disteldorf, about the team, he said they dealt with a lot of intense training in practice.
“I would say our training intensity has definitely increased compared to past years. We have incorporated more dryland workouts this year, which has really transferred into the water. Practice environment is intense and when the team shows up to practice they know they will get challenged,” Disteldorf said.
Freshman swimmer, Jeremy Wolf agreed with this.
“As a freshman never experiencing a college level practice,” Wolf said. “This has been the most difficult training I have ever experienced.”
Another key aspect to the Vikings success is the team’s chemistry according to Junior, Luke Herron.
“Our team chemistry is definitely something different compared to other teams. We use humor to coop with our nerves before races which helps us relax and focus,” Herron said.
A season can be busy around this time of year when trying to balance schoolwork with practice, and Coach Disteldorf recognizes that.
“The team has done really well on balancing school and athletics. We tell our swimmers school comes first then swimming. This helps the team prioritize and stay organized,” Disteldorf said.
Wolf agreed with this, but also put an emphasise on staying healthy.
“The most important thing for us right now is to remain healthy and take care of our bodies,” Wolf said. “We need to continue to work hard and trust our coaches.”
Late conference meets can sometimes make or break a season and when talking to Herron, he really emphasized on how they have to finish strong to end conference play.
“It will be an important meet to swim our best races before our conference meet. The best thing we can do to do well at Wheaton is to have strong relays,” Herron said.
Wheaton will conclude Augustana’s conference schedule as they will prepare for the CCIW Diving Championships on February 10th and the CCIW Championships on February 15th.