Fall is in full swing. Many sports fans naturally associate the fall with football season, from college games on Saturday mornings to NFL games on Sunday nights.
But here at Saint Louis University, a number of other sports are in full swing, and not just soccer and volleyball.
SLU’s swimming and diving team has been practicing since the first week of school, and is now in the beginnings of its fall season.
Jim Halliburton, head coach for the swimming and diving squad, said that, after practicing since the beginning of the school year, the team is “getting excited to finally have a competition rather then just practice.”
“When you just practice, and there are no meets, it gets old,” Halliburton said.
He has coached at SLU for 10 years and has coached swimming for a total of 30. Before coming to SLU, Halliburton coached for high school and club teams throughout the St. Louis area.
Men and women’s swimming started practice during the first week of school and goes through the middle of March. They practice five weekday afternoons, two weekday mornings and one weekend morning.
Swimming has one of the longest seasons of any sport in the NCAA. They start seven weeks earlier than the basketball team, though they finish around the same time.
The team had an intra-squad meet last Sunday. The first real meet of the season is this weekend. The team is competing at Mizzou on Saturday and at Butler on Sunday. On average, the Billikens compete in two to three meets a month.
Senior Michael Dahle is an investigative medical science major on a pre-med track. He has been on SLU’s team since he was a freshman.
“It’s my last year. I want to be happy with what I swim, whether that is just one good race or swimming every race well,” Dahle said. He swims distance freestyle, individual medley and 200m fly.
“What I like most about swimming is, easily, the team,” Dahle said. As a senior, he is widely regarded as a leader on the squad.
Along with Dahle, the team returned a number of swimmers. They also added two male freshmen and 11 female freshmen.
“We have a chance to be even stronger then we were last year,” Halliburton said.
For the swim team, the conference meet at the end of February is the biggest of the season.
During the fall, SLU works to prepare for these conference meets.
“We definitely have a shot to do better then we have ever done,” Dahle said.
The Atlantic 10 Conference meet is held in Buffalo, N.Y. Swimming is unique because, unlike most sports, multiple teams from the conference are swimming against each other.
“As long as you’re working hard, and you know you swam your race or that practice as hard as you can, don’t be upset by how fast it was,” Dahle said. “Ultimately, what matters is conference.”
