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Wednesday, Feb. 12
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

IU returns to competition on Saturday

Junior Bailey Pressey swims the butterfly leg of the 400 yard IM on Friday night at the Hoosierland Invitational.

After some well deserved time to rest and recover, IU swimming coach Ray Looze said the team is back in the pool more than ready to take on the second half of its season.

On Saturday, the team will travel to Atlanta to compete in a short-course style meet in the same pool where the NCAA Championships are held at the end of March.

“We have the opportunity to see the facilities where we will be competing and experience the environment around the hotel we’re staying at,” IU diving coach Drew Johansen said. “This will be a good opportunity to get comfortable here, without focusing so strictly on performance levels. We will be able to gauge where everyone’s at after the break.”

This will be the first competition for the swimmers since the Hoosierland Invitational and Winter Nationals that were held at the beginning of December. The divers have had a break as well, getting back into the pool after diving in the National Championships last month.

“Over the break we had the opportunity to train more with more time for rest,” Looze said. “We’re always focused and ready to go, but the time to train without the grind of school allowed us to work on some special things without the normal distractions.”

The No. 14 IU women will have a tough matchup against conference rival and Big Ten favorite, No. 21 Michigan, along with No. 25 Alabama and Georgia Tech.

On the men’s side, No. 9 IU faces a competitive No. 8 Alabama, No. 23 Michigan and No. 26 Georgia Tech.

This will be the first test of the New Year for the program, Johansen said, which expects IU to have a successful run in Big Ten and NCAA Championships later this semester.

With three dual meets left between now and the Big Ten Championships, January will be a crucial period for the swimming and diving team.

“For our divers, we tried to set it up to peak at Nationals and then have a break,” Johansen said. “Now we’re working to have a second peak develop for the Championships. The competition level is set, now we just have to execute. This month will be the difference maker in the long run.”

As for the swimmers, practices and training has been adjusted a little bit to account for the upcoming challenges that remain in the season.

“We’re in the championship part of our season now,” Looze said. “We’re doing more speed work, focusing on different movements and decreasing the volume of the workouts. Now it’s all about building momentum, building confidence and really dialing it in. This isn’t a time to start swimming slow.”

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