SWIMMING & DIVING — Friday night usually serves as a break for most students who have just completed a tough week of school, but the swimming and diving team spent last Friday night resting on a team bus on its way back home from a swim meet at UC Santa Barbara. The Tritons had a strong showing but it was not enough to overcome the Division-I Gauchos, who won by a score of 157-104 on the women’s side and 177.5-75.5 for the men.
Even though they fell short, the Tritons were not discouraged by the performance. According to head coach Scott McGihon, the swimmers actually had a very strong showing at the UCSB match.
“We swam pretty well,” McGihon said. “We had one of our best meets at Santa Barbara, and we had some pretty fast swims in preparation for the Nike Cup next weekend.”
McGihon pointed out several key swimmers who had particularly excellent swims. Sophomore Anju Shimura took first place in the 100-yard backstroke and in the 200-yard backstroke with times of 58.63 and 2:06.03, respectively. Freshman Alexandra Henley took first in the 550-yard freestyle with a time 5:03.70 and second in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:08.93.
“We had an OK dual meet,” senior captain Aubrey Panis said. “We had a few standout performances but it is a tuneup for next weekend’s meet.”
Senior captain Steven Hardy took second in the men’s 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:56.04 while junior Pablo Carrillo placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.34. Junior Todd Langland, who took second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.81, also finished strong.
The meet against the Gauchos served as preparation for next weekend’s Nike Cup in Long Beach, a highly competitive meet that has featured swimming powerhouses Stanford University and the University of Southern California in the past. With such a short amount of time to prepare for the meet, the Tritons are determined to perfect their finite stroke specifics and focus on their turns and starts to make the most of the next competition.
“We just need to remember that the next meet is just another meet,” McGihon said. “We’re eager and ready to perform next weekend. It’s a long season, and we just need to take it in stride and prepare for each meet. The mental preparation is an ongoing process and we just need to keep the regionals in mind.”
After a tough meet, the Tritons must mentally and physically prepare for the Nike Cup. The Nike Cup features some of the best competition in the state, in an attempt to prepare teams for the competitive nature of the division meets.
“We swam faster at this meet than last meet, which is good to see right before the Nike Cup,” senior captain Daniel Perdew said. “We’re going to see some good competition.”
The Tritons will have their work cut out for them, mentally preparing for such a large competition after a short week of practice.
“We just need to recover and rest,” Perdew said. “The coaches will focus on the workout, we just need to relax.”
Nevertheless, the Tritons are excited about the chance to compete in the Nike Cup, which runs Nov. 20-22. The Tritons won’t compete in their home pool until Jan. 10 when they will face rival Loyola Marymount University.
