This week… After a week off from competition and an undefeated record thus far, the Colorado State University swimming and diving team will partake in one more meet before a month-long break from the competition circuit.
On Friday the Rams travel to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., to face off in a dual competition against the Bears.
With top-tier athletes having nearly a month of competition break after the UNC dual and roughly a three-month competition lapse for the second-tier athletes, the Rams will be giving all swimmers and divers the opportunity to battle in the competitive water one more time. All athletes will be swimming at least one race at Butler-Hancock Swimming Pool.
The Rams and Bears take the blocks at 5 p.m., where the Rams look to improve their record to an undefeated 5-0.
Quotes from Head Coach John Mattos… On last week’s week off from competition: “I gave them a day off to catch up on everything and then we caught back up on our level of training. It didn’t take too long; by the end of the week we were in cruise control and doing the things we need to do to get better. There was nothing we needed to focus on that wasn’t already in the plans for this past week.”
On sweeping the quad-dual at Air Force Academy on Oct. 24: “They did well. It was a hard-fought contest against San Diego State. Fortunately, they were a little down on the diving side and we were able to go one, two, three on them on the diving boards and that was a nice boost. However, we still put ourselves in position swimming-wise to secure the victory. We won half the events and they won half the events. It was a good, fun meet. I was real proud of the girls.”
On goals for the UNC dual meet: “Friday, we give our second-tier athletes an opportunity to swim at least one of their events. Hopefully, they will all get an opportunity. Then our top-tier athletes will get a chance to probably swim one event, maybe an event they don’t normally swim that much. We will see how we respond to the challenge UNC will present.”
On the athletes that are starting to break away from the pack and stand out: “The athletes that normally stand out are the ones that are continuing to do that: the Breann Fullers, the Maddie Gambles, the Kathleen McClearys, the Nicole Lynchs, the Michelle Prices, the Sam Doles. They are consistently on top of their games and it seems like whenever it is time to race, they just pick it up a notch and provide us with a significant amount of momentum going into the dual meets. I think it gives the rest of the team the kind of confidence that we need in order to battle and hopefully come out on top.”
On the athletes’ recuperation after a tough competitive week, two weeks ago: “We still have our issues with health, one athlete is down with mono and one athlete got sick during the meet with San Diego State, Air Force and New Mexico, and hasn’t been in the water since. It has been an ongoing battle with as many athletes as we have. It is imperative that they really are attentive to their body’s needs and sometimes that becomes difficult with their academic schedule and their training schedule. We are trying to keep it balanced, but it is a really tough base of the season. They need to discipline themselves to the point where there won’t be a question. Some can’t get it there and it costs them.”
On his plans for the month-long competition break after Friday’s meet: “We will use that time wisely to prepare those second-tier athletes for a good culmination to their season in the latter part of January and February. The rest of the athletes, we will be preparing them for a good push at Missouri (Dec. 4-6). We would like to go season bests all the way down the line when we get to Missouri. It looks like we will have some good competition there. We will have preparation for that because we don’t want to go in and fall flat on our faces.”
