Hoosiers hope to use IU Invitational as 'tune up'

The No. 10 IU men's swimming and diving team plays host to the IU Invitational at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center this weekend and welcomes the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Arkansas, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Southern Illinois and the University of Louisville. \nThe invitational is unique in that some teams put a lot of emphasis on the meet, while others use it as a tuneup for upcoming pivotal meets, IU coach Ray Looze said. Looze also said some teams emphasize such meets because they are looking to qualify for their respective conference tournaments. Because of the absence of a time standard in the Big Ten, as well as higher expectations, IU's focus is on qualifying in the top 10 and sending its top swimmers and divers to the NCAA tournament, Looze said.\nSenior diver Ryan Fagan, who placed in the top 10 in both the one-meter and three-meter dual-meet charts Oct. 29, agreed that the Hoosiers will be using this weekend as a tuneup. \n"My goal and some of the other teammates' goal is to use this week as a rehearsal for some of the other bigger meets that are going to come," Fagan said. "We've been doing a lot of training, and we just want to use the techniques we've been doing."\nSenior Kevin Swander agreed that this weekend's invitational will be a more laid-back type of meet. \n"It's definitely easier to have fun when it's not a big meet," Swander said. "In a big meet, you get nervous, and the pressure is on. Here you can relax, you can learn to swim, you race smarter, and you can learn to do things better." \nThe Hoosiers might use this meet to practice for future key meets, but they understand they face a tough test from teams such as Pittsburgh, who view this invitational as critical to their season, Looze said.\n"Pittsburgh will shave and that's a tremendous advantage. We got our work cut out for us to beat them," Looze said. "Some of these teams are going to be shaved and very well prepared, so it will be a tough meet for us. But I think our depth will help us out a lot."\nIU also hopes to get a feel for what a three-day competition is like in preparation for future similar events like the Big Tens and NCAA championships.\n"This is a competition where it's sort of a dry run, kind of like the Big Ten Championships-type format where it's over three days," Looze said. "It allows us to do a little bit of a dry run while in intense training. We'll just be trying to get used to this type of a competition." \nBesides preparing for future meets and feeling out the three-day competition, the Hoosiers are looking to have some fun along the way as well. \n"My ultimate goal is just to go out and have fun and keep the team spirit," Swander said. "It's not necessarily a big meet for us in the sense that it's not a do-or-die meet. It's not the end of the season. The main focus is just to have fun and swim fast"