After coming off a heartbreaking loss to Colorado State, the U women, along with their male counterparts, head east this weekend to compete against Wyoming and Air Force.
This will be the first competitive swim for the men since their Jan. 12 loss to Washington. New Mexico and Colorado State did not have men’s teams, so the men did not have anyone to swim against in the last two meets.
U head coach Mike Litzinger said the men continued training during their time off.
“I think we’ll be OK. Even though just the women raced, we did some things in practice to get the guys ready,” he said. “We’re ready to make a move from fifth to in the top three, and this weekend will be a good indication of how we’re going to fare.”
The men are still looking for their second win of the season. This weekend’s competitions will be a great opportunity.
Litzinger said the U will be looking for good performances from their leaders, commenting on Daniel Godfrey, Cody Rempfer and Evan Castro, but noted that the second and third place swimmers will be the key to victory.
The women will look to break the .500 mark once again. Two wins this weekend will give the team its first winning record in school history.
The heartbreaking loss to CSU affected the team for “about half-an-hour,” Litzinger said.
“We met as a team and saw the positive side of things and the progress we’ve made as a team in just a year’s time,” Litzinger said.
The team remembered it is one of four teams fighting for the conference championship and that boosted players’ spirits.
Utah is looking to avenge the loss to Wyoming last year in Salt Lake City.
“We’re a little bit more talented than [Wyoming and Air Force] and we have to let [that] talent shine through,” Litzinger said. “Both those groups have great swimmers, but I think we have a few more and our depth is better.”
The meet against Wyoming is scheduled for Thursday evening at 5 p.m. The meet at the Air Force Academy is on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.