Swimming & diving ready for quad meet in Colorado Springs
LARAMIE -- The University of Wyoming swimming & diving team returns to the competition pool this week. The Cowboys and Cowgirls travel to Colorado Springs, Colorado, for a meet featuring Air Force, Denver and LSU.
A couple of those aforementioned opponents this week are teams UW sees on a yearly basis and multiple times each season. One however, LSU, is a team Wyoming doesn’t normally compete against, presenting it with a unique chance to see how it stacks up against an SEC foe.
“It gives everybody an opportunity to race against somebody who’s very good,” UW head coach Dave Denniston said. “It’s a good opportunity to see (an SEC team) because I don’t know if they’d have it otherwise. It’s going to be a good true test of where we are for the season.”
UW is a few weeks removed from its last, and first, meet of the season. The Cowboys and Cowgirls participated in the DU Relays on Oct. 2, winning a combined five races – three for the women and two for the men.
In the hiatus between Denver and Colorado Springs, Wyoming has focused in on the details that go into racing. That included holding an intrasquad Sprint Olympics this past weekend.
“We are really honing in on racing, racing each other and the details of racing,” Denniston said. “(The details are) the mentality in terms of warming up, getting ready for the events you’re going to race and making sure you’re ready to do that.”
The other details Wyoming had a heightened lens on were involving its turns. The aspects worked on were coming in and out of turns, knowing when the wall is approaching and how many strokes it’ll take to reach said wall, pushing off the wall and with how many underwater kicks to use and how quickly one should break out of the water off a turn.
Those details that have been honed can be implemented Friday and Saturday during the meet. Friday’s competition begins at 5 p.m., while Saturday’s meet starts at 10 a.m.
Another facet to Saturday is monitoring the nerves associated with a day of racing. Last season didn’t encompass any meets during the fall, and the meets that took place in the winter and spring were altered because of COVID-19.
That meant a season without the same energy or nerves featured in years past. That won’t be the case Friday or Saturday.
“It’s a nervous excitement that a lot of them will have, and they usually deal with that by giggling,” Denniston said. “But I think that’s a good energy to carry into Air Force.”
Following the meet this weekend, Wyoming returns home for a pair of meets. The Cowgirls host Northern Colorado on Nov. 4, while both the men’s and women’s teams battle Colorado State and Colorado Mesa on Nov. 5.
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