Head Coach Doug Milliken was very pleased with the way his team came out and competed in the first meet, even if it was not at full strength. “Our women’s team came out strong and our depth showed pretty well,” said Milliken. “Our men’s team came out and swam pretty well but we have some injuries which didn’t allow us to swim our best lineup.”

The Spartans fared well in the freestyle events, as they had the top finisher on both the men’s and women’s side in the 1,000 yard and the 200 yard freestyle.

All in all, Milliken felt his team put forth a good effort while gaining some valuable experience for the younger members. He said, “We competed well, but we certainly have some areas to work on.”

Milliken is confident that his team has time to improve and his squad will be much faster and stronger come championship season. According to Milliken, the team this year is very young, but there is a lot of depth. He is hoping to use that to his advantage in training and during meets.

At this point in the season Milliken is having his swimmers work very hard in practice, varying between aerobic weeks and speed weeks for training. Milliken is planning around long-term goals for the team. Milliken is hoping his team places well at the Wooster Invitational in the first weekend of December, and he wants very strong performances from both the men and women at the University Athletic Association Championship meet in early February.

Coming up next for the Spartans is a home meet against Carnegie Mellon University and Allegheny College on Saturday, Oct. 29, in the Veale Natatorium. Milliken is hoping to compete well against Carnegie Mellon and to see how the team stacks up against a rough conference opponent.

“This weekend is going to be a big challenge for us,” said Milliken. “We are really going to compete and try to come away with a victory if at all possible.”