14 seniors return for swim and dive team
After a busy offseason, the swim and dive team is ready to hit the pool this weekend in its first meet of the year against College of Charleston.
The team has been preparing all summer to get ready to battle the Cougars this weekend, coach McGee Moody said.
“They have meets over the summer, so there really is no offseason. They come in in really good shape and ready to race. We just have to fine tune things and get them back in the swing of the school schedule,” Moody said. “For us, it’s just starting the beginning of the season and getting them ready for the weekend.”
For Moody, since the team is already in shape, he can focus on other areas during practice.
“We can work more on perfecting technique without really having to worry about doing a certain amount of yardage or having to do a certain route of intensity,” Moody said. “We can concentrate on little things like starts and turns and taking a more technical approach.”
The swim team is looking forward to competing this weekend and getting back into the routine of meets and practices.
Senior Matt Navata said he looks for his routine to help him get focused for any meet.
“You’ve done this many times. You’ve done quadruple the amount of yardage in practice,” Navata said. “I think, ‘Just race and push yourself as much as you can. Hopefully, at the end, you can get the win.’”
The team is returning 14 seniors, including Amanda Rutqvist, a 2012 All-American and an All-SEC Second Team member.
The rest of the team and its coach are looking for the upperclassmen to step up and take a leadership role.
“[The freshman] are really trying to follow our lead. We’ve either had two or three years under our belt, so we know what to expect. We know what it’s like to get discouraged when things don’t go our way,” Navata said. “I definitely think they are looking up to us.”
Rutqvist also sees herself as a leader of the women’s team, and she said she tries to help out however she can. The senior tries to answer any question that she can for the team and she encourages teammates to stay upbeat and focused.
“Focus on the positive. Be loud and be focused when you’re swimming,” she said.
That kind of leadership has not gone unnoticed by the coaching staff.
“Where her leadership comes in is the race; it’s not so much that Rutqvist loves to win but she hates to lose,” Moody said. “People see that, and it comes out in her, and it fuels the people around her to have the same attitude. They see her and her need to win every race that she competes in, and it’s infectious.”
For the team, this weekend will serve as a way to gauge where it stands in its preparation.
The first meet will also help the team see where it needs to focus.
“I want to be explosive in my events. The good thing about the meets is that you get to practice your main events. You use it to advantage,” Navata said. “I am going to get a good feel for where I am in the season and build from there.”
The team is solid across the board, Moody said. He said he believes that along with Navata and Rutqvist, sophomore Ellen Johnson and senior Abby Galbreath will come up big this weekend in their events.
As a whole, Moody feels his swimmers are ready to compete in their first meets and ready to start a season where they will hope to achieve their goal of becoming a top-tier SEC program.
“We’re going to win. That’s why we’re going. Every time we step on the deck, my expectation is to win. If I ever walk out and we should concede, I should retire at that point,” Moody said. “Given where we are as a program, physically and the depth we have on our team, this weekend is one we can look at and come out with a win.”