Women head to Colorado
The Utah women’s swimming and diving team had a rough weekend in Texas last week and won’t be getting any breaks as they head to Colorado State for what promises to be another tough meet.
The team arrived at TCU straight from Mexico after several hours of travel and earned its first tie in school history. This is the only dual meet the team hasn’t won outright all season.
“It was by no means ideal conditions to race in, but to be able to stand up when we are exhausted and beat TCU at home when we have nothing going for us shows a lot of character,” said head swim coach Greg Winslow. “If that’s as bad as it gets, we have a pretty promising season ahead.”
The team hopes a few days back in Utah has rejuvenated it for tonight’s meet against the Rams, one of the toughest teams in the Mountain West Conference.
Although Winslow is confident the team can get another win at Colorado State, he said it is going to take the entire team swimming at its best.
“It’s going to take all of our girls diving and swimming well and not relying on one or two people,” Winslow said. “We need the girls that aren’t ranked one or two in our depth chart to step up and start swimming like they are and realize we need them as much as we need the superstars.”
After the meet with Colorado State tonight, the Utes will travel to New Mexico for another MWC matchup Saturday.
Men still looking for first win
Although the women were able to pull off a tie at TCU, the men’s team wasn’t quite as lucky.
Despite putting up impressive numbers at the Princeton Invitational in early December, the men’s team has yet to win a meet this season.
“Every meet, we’ve had one or two guys have really great performances, but we need everyone to come together at once and get the job done,” Winslow said.
Without a meet to prepare for this week, the men are focusing all of their attention on the upcoming home meets with Wyoming and Air Force.
The men are hoping that getting back in their own pool will provide the spark and confidence needed to earn their first win of the season.
“We have a good shot against both Wyoming and Air Force. It’s going to take everyone coming together. We need our youth to start dominating,” Winslow said. “Our focus is getting the men some confidence and learning to become a team, but it’s hard to do that without winning.”
Diver of the week
Senior diver Anna Braszkiewicz earned her second MWC Diver of the Week honor of the season after earning career-high scores in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dive competitions against TCU last week.
Braszkiewicz earned a first-place finish in three of the four events last weekend and qualified for the NCAA zone meet, a qualifying meet for the NCAA championships, with a 302.69 score on the 1-meter springboard.
“Anna has really broken out,” Winslow said. “She is ten times the diver she was last season. She has become someone we can depend on.”
Anna Braskiewicz