The women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams about to begin one of the longest sports seasons on campus, which starts in October and ends in February. With the long season, the teams are focused on staying motivated from start to finish. Their main goal is to become conference champions, which helps keep them driven all season long.
“I think the way we focus is we all have the same goal at the end,” junior Kate Kucera said. “We know it’s within our reach if we want it, and we keep together like a team. We know that if we don’t depend on each other, we can’t depend on anything because we all must work together to achieve the same goals.”
With such a long season ahead, it is important to avoid burnout and stay fresh. As senior Gavin McCorry states, switching up the training every practice is important.
“Coach Lloyd does a fantastic job of changing our training from a week-to-week basis,” McCorry said. “Even throughout my fourth year being here, I really can’t pick a certain practice that’s been repetitive over the years. He’s very creative, and it helps when you show up to practice and you’re not doing the same thing every day.”
As much as the physical part of the sport is important to the athletes, it is also crucial to ensure that the players don’t get burnt out mentally.
“They’ve been focusing on this year, especially with our new assistant coach. We’re doing this because some people sometimes get into a groove after a while, and you’re used to doing things,” McCorry said. “So they’re asking us this year why we’re swimming, why we’re a college athlete, and trying to remind us of each person’s reason for their love of the support.”
Managing both physical and mental energy over a season that spans several months is no easy task. Keeping focus and maintaining energy during such a long season can also be tough.
“I take it one practice at a time,” sophomore Emma McVicker said. “I try to focus on the little things that I’m doing in every practice versus worrying five months in advance about how this one meet is going to go.”
Although the season can be rough sometimes, players like junior Genevieve Ryan always think positively and rely on their teammates for support.
“I depend on my relationships on the team more than anything,” Ryan said. “Many sports teams say this, but we are a family. We try to bond as much as we can with the team. We eat dinner as a team after practices, and that’s helpful for me.”
Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will kick off their season this Saturday, Oct. 5th, at the Alumni meet in the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium.