Diving Into the Past, Swimming to the Future
September 29, 2019
The University of Utah swim and dive team held their alumni meet this Saturday morning, bringing former players back to their alma matter and bridging the gap between current swimmers and the talent that preceded them.
“The most important thing about today is connecting with the alumni, and we did a great job of that, with over a hundred of them in attendance today,” said head coach Joe Dykstra. “That’s what this event is all about, connecting with past generations of Utah swimmers and divers with the current team.”
Dykstra said that all of the alumni had fun and that they all had the chance to interact with the current athletes, even having breakfast together in the morning.
Its hard not to notice the multiple banners hanging from the rafters above the pool in the natatorium, listing the teams and players that have built up the program to what it is today.
“This program has been around for a long time, and when I started six years ago, we didn’t have a connection with the past generations,” said Dykstra.
He said that Tami Johnson, Director of Operations and Alumni Relations, has put in a great amount of work into setting up these meets and helping reconnect the present team to the former players.
Redshirt senior Colten Montgomery said, “I think it’s good for the younger classmen to see how far you can go with it. They get to see how far the ripples of this team carry.”
Montgomery and Dykstra were very clear about their thoughts for the rest of the season, especially moving into next week playing against a difficult rival in Arizona. They both said that the play was sloppy today, which was to be expected given that this wasn’t a competitive meet. The team will need to tighten things up considerably to be able to compete at a high-level during conference play.
“We’re going to do what we always do. We’re going to get better,” Montgomery said. “The team is on a steady incline right now, and I don’t see this year being any different.”
The Utes will host the University of Arizona this Friday, October 4, at 2:00 p.m in Ute Natatorium in Salt Lake City.
