Dry season pushes Loyola's swim team to the top
Jon Meoli
Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: Sports
This weekend, an atmosphere that is common on most university campuses will make its annual appearance at Loyola. A sold-out, raucous crowd will be on hand at the Mangione Aquatic Center for the MAAC swimming championships, and both the men's and women's swim teams are preparing in a way that confirms the importance of the task at hand.
All of our NCAA teams show the utmost dedication to their sports, but the swim team goes above and beyond for their postseason meets and recently, they have gotten the results to justify it.
By committing themselves to a strict dry season in which nobody drinks alcohol, the swim team makes a decision that most college athletes find very difficult to ensure they perform to the best of their capabilities, just as the men did last year in winning the MAAC title.
There's more to their training than just not drinking, of course. Two-a-day's and early morning practices were the norm throughout the season. Over the past two weeks, that has been tapered down to just conditioning, with only one practice per day and one Friday morning session.
And while such training is common for any Division 1 athlete, it's the dry season that is especially worth noting. It shouldn't come as a surprise that these extra steps are taken to ensure they perform to the best of their abilities at the MAAC championships, but this extra level of dedication separates them, as does the success it brings.
Of course, there are consequences outside of poor performance if they don't comply. "The captain's make sure we don't go out, and the rest is up to us to just follow it. If you get caught [drinking], you probably wouldn't swim at MAACs," junior swimmer Colin Chenet explained.
Chenet, who is looking to improve on last year's second place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke and third place finish in the 200 (which teammate Matt Fralinger won), said that there is 100 percent participation among team members.
The men's efforts to repeat as MAAC Champions, along with the women's attempt to improve on last year's third place finish, is an attempt to continue a very successful stretch after both teams placed third the previous season.
All of our NCAA teams show the utmost dedication to their sports, but the swim team goes above and beyond for their postseason meets and recently, they have gotten the results to justify it.
By committing themselves to a strict dry season in which nobody drinks alcohol, the swim team makes a decision that most college athletes find very difficult to ensure they perform to the best of their capabilities, just as the men did last year in winning the MAAC title.
There's more to their training than just not drinking, of course. Two-a-day's and early morning practices were the norm throughout the season. Over the past two weeks, that has been tapered down to just conditioning, with only one practice per day and one Friday morning session.
And while such training is common for any Division 1 athlete, it's the dry season that is especially worth noting. It shouldn't come as a surprise that these extra steps are taken to ensure they perform to the best of their abilities at the MAAC championships, but this extra level of dedication separates them, as does the success it brings.
Of course, there are consequences outside of poor performance if they don't comply. "The captain's make sure we don't go out, and the rest is up to us to just follow it. If you get caught [drinking], you probably wouldn't swim at MAACs," junior swimmer Colin Chenet explained.
Chenet, who is looking to improve on last year's second place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke and third place finish in the 200 (which teammate Matt Fralinger won), said that there is 100 percent participation among team members.
The men's efforts to repeat as MAAC Champions, along with the women's attempt to improve on last year's third place finish, is an attempt to continue a very successful stretch after both teams placed third the previous season.
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