On Thursday, the Utes will compete at Art Adamson Invitational in College Station, Texas against nine other teams — Texas A&M, SMU, TCU, ASU, LSU, Air Force, Stanford, San Diego State, BSU (women) and Nebraska (divers only). The three-day meet is the midway point for Utah, and as the Utes get ready for their mid-season meet this week, head coach Joe Dykstra and his team are keeping positive vibes going, hoping for good results the rest of this season.
Utah has typically seen success in the middle of the season, and the Utes are looking to continue that trend this year.
Two years ago, Dykstra joined the Utah coaching staff as the team had a strong meet at the Missouri Invitational, which included nine school records, four meet records and over 25 NCAA consideration times.
“We had a phenomenal meet, and I have been feeling a similar vibe around the team right now as we gear up for the meet this week,” said Dykstra. “I think the short-drop taper in mid-November is going to be really beneficial for us.”
The following year, the team headed to another mid-season meet in Austin, Texas to compete in the Texas Invitational. Unfortunately, the team had some trouble getting there, as they spent five hours in the Phoenix airport. This prevented the team from practicing the day before the meet.
Even with these setbacks, several swimmers managed to step up to the block and perform, qualifying for the NCAA-B standard times. Among these swimmers was senior Bence Király, as he qualified in both the 500- and 1650-yard freestyle. Not only did he qualify for the NCAA Championships, (and then later placed fourth and 12th at the NCAAs), he also set another school record. By the end of the meet, the team walked away with 15 NCAA-B time qualifying times, setting them up for a strong finish to the season.
As the mid-season meet for the 2015-2016 season nears, Dykstra holds high standards for his swimmer and their times, hoping for some NCAA qualifying times and more by the time this invitational hosted by Texas A&M concludes.
“This meet is a combination of long course and short course, so we want to be able to get some Olympic trial qualifying time and FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) standards for our international swimmers when we are in long course, and then make some qualifying times for the NCAA Championships,” said Dykstra. “I think the men’s team could win the meet.”
Of the swimmers on the team, a few are international, striving for their FINA standard times to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Of these swimmers is Ganem Tebet, who was born in Mexico. He is one of the breaststrokers and IM-ers on the team, specializing the in 200-yard breast and the 400-yard IM.
“I want to do my best, giving it all I have, and hopefully, I get my FINA-B time for the 200-yard breast,” said Tebet. “I’m really looking forward to what I will do at this meet and what my team will accomplish.”
The preliminary sessions will start at 9 a.m.
@emileewhiteee