The Men’s Swimming team competed in the Vassar Sprint Invitational title on Sunday afternoon in Poughkeepsie, N.Y in its final tune-up before the 2014 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Swimming & Diving Championships.
With two weeks remaining until the SUNYACs, Head Coach Scott Whitbeck said the team is beginning to move towards tapering, resting and getting ready to start peaking physically at the right time.
“Swimming has one of the longest seasons,” Whitbeck said. “It’s all combined into one big season. Swimming is a training sport, as opposed to a game sport. We are focused on peaking at the end of the season at our Conference Championships, and tapering and things. We spend our fall and into the winter training hard. Competitions are just opportunities to see where we are.”
Whitbeck said the first-years on the team have developed in a big way throughout the season. He believes they will be a significant part of the team’s success at SUNYACs.
“The Men’s Swim team has just begun tapering for our SUNYAC meet,” first-year free/fly swimmer Luke Zenir said. “We are excited for SUNYACs. Our in-season record isn’t representative of how well we’re going to do at the championship meet.”
The team believes in making the best of their off-days and workouts.
“Since we lift more and have more intense swimming workouts than most of the other schools in our conference, the Men’s team was broken down for most of its dual meets, so we have yet to swim at our full potential,” Zenir said. “Because we train so hard during the season, the effects of our taper are going to be much more noticeable, and beneficial than some other teams.”
Despite having a losing record of 2-6, the team continues to be optimistic and focused on their ultimate goal.
“We went into this year knowing it was a rebuilding year being a young team,” second-year free/breast stroke swimmer Ryan Lindgren said. “We didn’t really put much weight on dual meets. Our whole year training-wise has been going towards SUNYACs. Obviously losing isn’t fun, but it will all be worth it when we show up at SUNYACs.”
The Hawks return to competition from Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 20-22, for the 2014 SUNYAC Swimming & Diving Championships hosted at Erie County Community College’s Burt Flickinger Athletic Center in Buffalo, N.Y. The preliminary heats are set for 10 a.m. each day, with the championship final sessions set for 6 p.m.
