The Observer, February 22, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 18
Swimmers look to make headway in tough conference
The University Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships started yesterday at the University of Rochester.
The dinner reservations were made over a week ago. The meals have already been ordered. All the transportation has been taken care of. Everyone should have an extra pair of goggles, because the strap could break.
In the days leading up to the UAAs, the coaching staff printed out pictures of Rochester's pool. The goal of all this is to minimize distractions for the swimmers.
"We practice four to five days a week at 6 o'clock in the morning," said head swimming coach Chris Conlon. "This and nationals, that's the peak of our season. When you put in that much effort, you realize the value of a meet like this."
In order to be competitive in the UAA, the fastest conference in Div. III, you have to put in that work. Why it has to be at 6 a.m. might be another issue.
"[The UAA] sends more individuals to nationals as a conference than anyone else," said Conlon. That in turn means that if you place this weekend, you are going to do well at nationals. To give you an idea of the level of the competition, the women's team finished seventh of eight at UAAs last year, but were ranked 19th in the nation.
"If you're beating up on people all the time, you don't improve," said Conlon. "It's going to be really hard, but in my swim-coach-delayed-gratification way of thinking, it's going to make us better."
Here's a look at the UAA meet, with the teams in order of how they finished last year.
Emory
Div. III football has Mount Union. Div. III Swimming has Emory.
On the women's side, the Eagles have finished in the top four at nationals for seven straight years and won it all in 2005 and 2006. They've won the UAA Championships every year since 1999. The women are led by Leigh Psaris, who was the UAA's rookie of the year last season.
The men have taken third in the nation for two straight years and have finished in the top 10 nine out of the past 10 years.
NYU
Both the Violets' men's and women's teams carry an undefeated record into this weekend's competition. "NYU is a team that doesn't have a lot of superstars, but they're talented all around," said Conlon. Freestyle is the Violets' best event. The team is returning four All-Americans on the men's side.
WashU
The Bears have an especially strong women's team. They finished seventh in the nation last year and have a strong group of upper classmen and good relay teams. Head coach Brad Shively and his assistants earned the UAA's women's coaching staff of the year award.
Carnegie Mellon
The Tartans' No. 15 men's team is coming off a 141-139 win over Denison University, the No. 1 ranked team in Div. III. Junior Tim McConnell won the 1000-yard freestyle and shaved 14 seconds off his personal best time at that meet.
University of Chicago
Though Chicago's women's team has talented underclassmen, it is their men's team that is the biggest threat. They're currently ranked No. 10 in the latest Div. III poll.
University of Rochester
They're hosting, which can be an advantage.
Case Western Reserve
Case is sending a very young team to Rochester. "I don't know how they're going to respond," said Conlon.
The Spartans will be looking for great things from the men's lone senior, Drew Kouri. Kouri placed first overall in the 100-yard breaststroke event at the Wooster Invitational in early December and cracked the one-minute mark, with a time of 58.75, an "NCAA B-Cut" finish. The 200-meter and 400-meter medley relays should also do well.
The women's team has been swimming faster than expected this year. "I'm starting to see a new breed of Case swimming out there," said Conlon.
Leading the ladies is Lindsay Stahl. The senior won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 56.66 in the Spartan's last dual meet against Allegheny.
Brandeis
To paraphrase Chris Berman, I'm running out of steam on these things.
