Standing on the diving board at Ohio University in February 2006, David Linn thought he had nothing but time as a Ball State diver.
Fast-forward three years and now Linn stands a senior and ready to dive for the last time as a Cardinal.
Linn, along with follow seniors Mark Augustyn and Kyle Hembree will make their final trip to the Mid-American Conference championship this week.
"I'm really excited but at the same time it's really sad," Linn said. "I'm looking forward to it, and I hope I do my best because I can't go back and do it again. This is it."
Coach Bob Thomas said he hopes this year's seniors will do like most seniors have done in the past, make the most of their last collegiate swim meet.
"In 30 years of coaching, I have seen far more seniors step up than not," Thomas said. "I expect this year's seniors to light up the pool. It's their last hurrah and their last opportunity to post their best time."
If there is a lot of pressure on the seniors to perform, the opposite is true for many of the freshman.
Freshman David White said, he feels no pressure going into the meet.
"Really, I don't feel any pressure," White said. "I'm just looking for good scores and to maybe ruin a couple of happy endings from some seniors."
Linn said the team has been going through mental training in order to deal with the pressure and to help them perform better.
"Mental training has been really helpful," Linn said. "We have been focusing on mental imagery, visualizing the perfect swim."
Thomas said his swimmers going though mental training is a very important part of preparing for the MAC championship.
"Competing during the season is 90 percent physical, but competing at MAC is 90 percent mental," Thomas said.
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