It is a huge weekend for the women’s swimming and diving team. Taking place at their very own Myers-McLoraine Pool is the Chicago Invitational, which features stiff competition from some of the best teams in the region.

“This is our first big meet since we’ve been back from winter break,” fourth-year swimmer Amanda Kim said. “We’re really excited to swim against some great competition.”

In that mix will be Calvin College, IIT, and Lawrence University, among others. Despite facing some top swimmers, the Maroons are still confident in their team.

“We expect to win,” Kim said. “Practices have been harder and we’ve been putting in extra work in hope of a successful weekend. Big meets like this require more endurance than dual meets, so we’ve been putting in some extra effort.”

The Maroons have every right to expect to win. Turning in several impressive individual performances, Chicago won the Invitational last year and is still undefeated this season.

Although the Chicago Invitational is important in its own right, success here has implications for the rest of the season. Not only would a solid performance Friday be another huge confidence boost for the Maroons, but it would also have implications toward Chicago’s conference and national standings.

“Every meet is part of the preparation for UAAs,” Kim explained. “We’re really excited to do well here and carry that momentum toward conference championships and hopefully Nationals.”

To catch all the action and some potential photo finishes, stop by the Myers-McLoraine pool this weekend on Friday and Saturday. The women will kick off the meet Friday afternoon with the 200-yard freestyle relay. The events will continue Saturday morning with overall team results announced in the afternoon.