This weekend the Wisconsin men's and women's swimming and diving teams will host dual meets Friday and Saturday at the Natatorium on the UW-Madison campus. The men will compete Friday evening at 6 p.m. in a meet versus St. Olaf College. On Saturday at 2 p.m. both the men's and women's teams will compete against UW-Green Bay.
These will be the last home meets of season for the Badger swimmers and divers before the teams go off to compete in the Big Ten Championships and eventually the NCAA Championships in March.
Having a home meet at this point in the season is something that both the athletes and the coaches are looking forward to. It's nice to be home after a long training trip, and we're in the last stage of preparation for championship season, so it's nice to be home, be in our own beds and turn the corner to some fast swimming,"" said head coach Eric Hansen.
Junior swimmer Phil Davies, who recently broke the Wisconsin record for the 100 freestyle at the Texas Invitational, also enjoys meets in Madison.
""There is less pressure because we practice here and it's our home pool. It's great to have meets here because people's families and friends come.""
For seniors like All-American Christine Zwiegers, the meet will take on a special meaning, as it is the last time she will compete in her home pool.
""For some of the relays we would like to break a pool record, and just because it is my last [home] meet, I would like to have fun and just enjoy it with the team,"" Zwiegers said.
All the seniors will be recognized in a ceremony before the meet Saturday.
Once the swimmers get in the pool this weekend, they will be looking to build off the success from their past couple meets in Texas and Hawaii and continue to improve before competing in the Big Ten and NCCA Championships. In a sport where fractions of a second can make you or break you, as we saw with Michael Phelps this past summer, the team is motivated to use every meet to fine-tune their technique and achieve the fastest times possible.
""I thought we preformed real well against Hawaii during our training trip. Each one of these meets we need to be a little more sharp each time ... These [meets] are two more opportunities to get our quickness back and show our athleticism,"" Hanson said.
Zwiegers noted that being at home and getting more rest should contribute to lower times.
""We've been getting not a lot of rest, but [with] a little bit more, and I think people are ready to step up and swim a lot faster,"" Zwiegers said.
Davies said the meets this weekend will be a great opportunity to get in the pool prepare for championship meets.
""It's another opportunity to race and to prepare for the Big Ten's and NCAA's... Working on details like starts and turns that are going to be important at the bigger meets,"" he said.
Both the men's and women's teams are confident in their abilities to preform well as individuals and as a team. Coach Hanson may have summed up this belief best when he said, ""I have expectations for everybody, so I'll be watching everybody and everything they're doing. For us to be the team we're capable of being, everybody needs to know their role and swim well.
