Swimming teams prepare for last meets before championships

By Colleen Casey
Skiff Staff

While the men’s and women’s swimming teams prepare to finish the regular season this weekend, the championships that will come in three weeks will be on the athletes’ minds.

Head coach Richard Sybesma said neither the men nor the women will have to worry about the competition they’ll face this weekend.

The women’s meet against North Texas Saturday is expected to result in another win, Sybesma said.

Junior backstroke and individual medley swimmer Jamie MacCurdy said she believes the UNT meet will give the women an opportunity to end the season on a good note.

“I think we’ll look back and realize that we had a great season,” MacCurdy said. “It will give us an opportunity to swim some off events and just race our best.”

MacCurdy’s time of 4:26.40 for the 400 individual medley is ranked No. 26 in the nation.

Sarah Kirschberg/PHOTO EDITOR Sophomore Kim Miller practices her butterfly technique during practice in the Rickel Building. The women’s swimming team competes against North Texas at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Rickel Building.

Sybesma said MacCurdy is the top contender for the women to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

The women’s most recent meets included a win over Houston 183-109 Friday and a 128-111 loss to conference-rival Rice Saturday.

The men are coming off losses to No. 10 Florida and No. 22 SMU. The men travel to Austin to race against No. 1 Texas today.

Sophomore sprinter and backstroke swimmer Aaron Ewert said he doesn’t believe beating Texas is a realistic goal.

“We’ll all just go out and fine-tune our strokes,” Ewert said. “This is everyone’s last chance to race before the championships.”

After Texas, the men will begin shortening their practices for the next three weeks in preparation for the National Independent Championships Feb. 22 to 24. The Independent Championships are the men’s equivalent to the Western Athletic Conference Championships.

The men will then return to Austin for the American Short Course Championships before individual qualifiers participate in the NCAA Championships March 22 to 24 in College Station.

Sybesma said he expects two or three qualifiers from both the men and women to attend the NCAA Championships.

“I have individual expectations for everybody on the team,” Sybesma said. “Getting to the championships is what we’re all here for.”

The women will participate in the WAC Championships Feb. 22 to 24 before they too head to Austin for the ASC Championships and then to the NCAA Championships March 15 to 17.

Sybesma said one of the most crucial times for his swimmers is the time they spend focusing on storing the energy they’ll need during their final competitions.

“I’ve never had to baby-sit them,” Sybesma said. “They all know they need to be doing the things a champion does.”

Colleen Casey
c.m.casey@student.tcu.edu