MEETS TO WATCH FOR THIS SEASON
Nov. 11 vs. Tiffin
Jan. 13 vs. Eastern Michigan (Defending MAC Champions)
Jan. 27 @ Evansville (Rivalry meet)
Ball State men’s swim and dive team have one more intersquad meet before the season starts on Nov. 11 against Tiffin University.
THE START OF THE SEASON
This season, head coach Bob Thomas decided to not have his team swim at the Purdue Intercollegiate meet. He said it’s a personal philosophy to not have a competitive meet in October.
“I don’t feel like we get out of it what I want at this time of the season,” Thomas said. “It’s easier to have intersquad meets and timed trials and not waste money on these meets.”
The team has added eight freshmen to its roster, two of which are divers. Last season, the team had only one diver. Thomas said he wanted to support the team with more divers.
“Then on the swimming side, the swimmers are as good as the people we already have,” Thomas said. “The freshmen will definitely contribute from the get-go.”
Senior Zach Toman found a unique way to prepare for the season. He swam and got his workouts in on the beach.
“We’d get in a couple workouts on the beach and in the water for about an hour,” Toman said. “However, I definitely didn’t get in as much as I wish I had.”
This past summer, Toman had tried out cross-fit training at a local gym.
“I think it was pretty beneficial,” Toman said.
To this point of the season, the morning practices have been a half an hour longer. As opposed to previous year's, morning practices had been forty-five minutes. Toman said practicing in the morning helps with his swimming.
“The more yardage you get in, the better your swimming will be,” Toman said.
On the boards, diving head coach Nick Gayes said practices have been going good.
“We are in great shape right now,” Gayes said. "Our fitness level is where I want it to be.”
The new addition of two freshmen divers, Trey Matheis and Sean Wolfe, will add some points in the conference meet. For Gayes, he said Wolfe is going to be one of the divers to watch for this season.
“[Sean] has a ton of talent,” Gayes said. “But he’s got a lot of learning to do and has to learn to be consistent.”
Gayes is looking forward to this year's season. He said his team is in a good position to just keep moving forward.
“I’m excited for the young blood coming in and especially having three divers,” Gayes said.
Over the summer, junior Gabe Dean was able to dive at his hometown's diving well. Dean said he is in good shape for the season.
“I think being in the water more and the conditioning over the summer has helped put me in a better position for the start of this year,” Dean said.
For the first four weeks of the season, the team has been focusing on conditioning.
“These four weeks of conditioning are a good way to get our bodies prepared for the diving we’re going to start to do,” Dean said.
INTERSQUAD MEET THIS WEEKEND
With the intersquad meet this weekend, Thomas is hoping that his team can overcome a wave of sickness that has gone through the team.
“Hopefully they are getting it out of their system, so they won't be sick for the start of the season,” Thomas said.
Opposed to the team's last intersquad meet, this weekend will include more of a college-style to the meet. Thomas said the freshmen are going to be exposed to what a real college meet is like.
“I changed the format of our practices and we’re gearing up for faster swims,” Thomas said. “We want to make sure we are ready for when November rolls around.”
After being impressed last weekend, Toman is looking forward to this weekend's intersquad meet so he can see more of what the freshmen are capable of.
“[The freshmen] have been putting in hard work in the pool and weight room,” Toman said."I look forward to seeing it pay off."
The team has been split into three teams this weekend: black, red and white. The meet is on Oct. 27 at Lewellen Pool and will begin at 7 p.m.
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