Men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have two tough meets coming up, head coach Jim Halliburton said.
“The men’s team has some pretty good swimmers that have been winning a lot of events,” Halliburton said. “For the men, Illinois-Chicago will probably be the best team we see all year; so we might be the underdog against them.
Halliburton said that the men’s team seems to have an easier time winning events than the women’s, but that the women’s team does not have as many weaknesses as the men’s. The women have a lot more depth, he said.
Junior Elena Ramirez said that both teams have plenty of people who win their events and really shine, but she said that it is the people who place second and third that make a difference for the teams. All team members’ points matter, she said.
“We can’t win without the people who win their events, but we can’t win without all the second and third places either,” Ramirez said. “Our freshman class has been doing well. I think it is everyone combined together that gives us an edge.”
There are four swimmers on the men’s side who will be the keys to success for the Billikens, Halliburton said.
“Michael Dahle has been the Atlantic 10 Newcomer of the Week twice already, and I think he is ready to take a run at the 1000-meter and 1650-meter records,” Halliburton said. “Kevin Parker just missed his record in the 100-meter backstroke, Brad Byars is one of the fastest swimmers in the Atlantic 10 Conference, and Justin Breithaupt makes a real solid one-two punch with Dahle.”
While the men’s team has won its last four dual meets, the women’s team has seen its 61-match winning streak snapped during that time, collecting three wins and a tie against conference-rival Xavier.
“The women had plenty of chances to win against Western Illinois, and they had plenty of chances to win the meet where they tied with Xavier,” Halliburton said. “I don’t know if they were that upset about the winning streak ending, but I think they hope to start a new streak.”
Ramirez said that the team has to take it one meet at a time. Although the team had the long win streak broken, everyone looks at every meet as an opportunity to win and start that record over again.
“We’ve been training hard for the last week,” Ramirez said. “We get really pumped for our home meets. I think it is more mental now than anything. We are really excited and hope to have a great year.”
Halliburton said that the teams have been working hard in preparation for the upcoming home meets. He said he feels more comfortable placing swimmers in events after scouting the other teams.
“Practices have been difficult,” Halliburton said. “We have had some good times in previous meets, so I hope that will give them some confidence. As the coach, I make sure they are in shape and that they know what to do.”
