The men’s swimming and diving team (4–0) beat Kalamazoo College (4–2) by a score of 214–86 on Saturday. In a strong performance, the Maroons won each event in swimming, and all but one in diving.
“It was a very impressive performance,” head coach Jason Weber said.
Though the team trained in Florida and various other locations during winter break, it remained to be seen how the Maroons would resume their season. In hopes of combating any residual lack of form accumulated from the time off, the team continued to train hard throughout the week, and, evidently, it paid off.
“It was very encouraging to see how well we swam after a tough week of training,” assistant coach Krista Carlson said.
Not only did the Maroons swim well, but many of them also managed to set personal, seasonal, and school bests.
Third-year diver Bobby Morales set a new school record in 3-meter diving. First-year swimmer Andrew Salomon, first-year swimmer Andrew Angeles, fourth-year swimmer Marius Aleksa, and second-year swimmer Eric Hallman also had notable performances.
As for future meets, the team is thinking past this weekend toward the postseason.
“We are really excited for the Chicago Invitational,” Carlson said, “but it’s just another stepping-stone to our ultimate goal of swimming well at conference and qualifying for NCAAs.”
One way the Maroons are keeping conference and NCAA competition in mind as they compete is by viewing individual meet results in context.
“Overall times are not that important right now, but it’s nice to see people going faster as the season progresses,” Weber said.
Ideally, as the swimmers improve throughout the season, they will be readying themselves for heightened competition during later meets.
“It looks as though our team is staying tough, mentally as well as physically,” Carlson said.
While emphasizing that the future is important, Chicago’s more immediate attention is focused on the Chicago Invitational.
“I’m confident that we will continue to improve and should post more great performances this weekend,” Weber said.
The Maroons will host the Chicago Invitational this Friday and Saturday at Ratner Athletics Center, at 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. respectively.