The Utah swimming and diving teams have spent their entire season focusing on the Mountain West Conference Championships. The wait is over.
The Utes will spend the next four days in Oklahoma City trying to win what they have prepared for all season.
“We are just really excited that it’s finally here,” said head coach Greg Winslow. “Throughout the training part of the year, it seems like the season takes forever, but we are excited to finally see what we can do.”
The road to the conference championships hasn’t always been an easy one for Utah. Close losses have scuffed the Utes’ record this season, especially for the men’s team, which won its first meet in two years against Air Force earlier this season. It was the only win the men earned all season.
“Swimming is different from anything else,” said Adam Oliver, a senior in finance. “Like with football or basketball, you have to get up for every game if you want a chance to get in the NCAAs, but with swimming, just one big race and you’re in. We’ve sacrificed some of our dual meets to get ready for the MWC.”
Although the women have had a much more successful season, they have also sacrificed their record in favor of preparation.
The team went into meets exhausted from long training hours, earning a tie with TCU and giving up losses to Colorado State and BYU.
It was all part of the plan, and the swimmers are hoping the sacrifices will pay off for them this week.
“That has really been our focus all season,” said Whitney Lopus, a freshman in exercise and sport science. “If we lose a dual meet but do that much better at our conference meet, we’ll be happy. That’s the meet we want to win and I think we’ve set ourselves up to be extremely successful.”
Another thing the Utes hope to have working to their advantage is the scoring system used at the championships.
“The point scoring is a lot different at conference,” Oliver said. “In dual meets, there is a lot more value on winning a race, where at conference, if we can put a lot of people in the top eight or 16 spots, there is a lot of points scored that way, and we have a lot of depth in that regard.”
Although Utah’s ultimate goal is to walk away with a MWC championship, the team is also looking to qualify several athletes for the NCAA Championships beginning March 12.
Qualification for the NCAAs is time-based and the top 20 to 30 men and women and the top 12 relays qualify.
“Our goal is to hopefully break into the top 20 on the women’s side and get some guys into the meet,” Winslow said. “If we get them to the NCAAs, anything can happen once you get there.”
For now, the Utes’ focus is solely on the conference championships and Winslow feels like they are ready for the challenge.
“I’m really happy with what I have seen out of the kids the past couple of weeks,” Winslow said. “My job is pretty much over. I don’t have any magic dust to make it happen8212;it’s up to them now.”
Erik DaenitzUtah freshman swimmer Lauren Hewson and the rest of the Utah swimming and diving teams will head to Oklahoma City for the MWC championships. The team has scheduled their season so they are poised to win a Championship.