 "Photo: Andrew Rogers, Daily Texan Staff")
After three consecutive weekends of traveling across the country and three more weeks of high-intensity training, the fourth-ranked Texas women’s swimming and diving team will have the opportunity to race in its home pool for the first time this season.
The men and women of Texas both take on Washington today at 3 p.m. at the Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center. The Washington women’s team will be coming off two dual-meet losses, including one to No. 3 ranked Stanford.
For the past three weeks, head coach Kim Brackin has focused on entering a new phase of training that focuses more on racing and less on aerobics.
“The girls are a lot more tired than they were three weeks ago,” Brackin said. “The training is a higher level of intensity. This was a good time to push the envelope.”
Senior Captain Rebecca Orr said it would be interesting to see how the women represent Texas after a period with very little rest.
“It’s been a hard three weeks,” Orr said. “A lot of people were broken down, but now we’re excited to try and get back up and race.”
The Washington meet will give some of the women an opportunity to swim in off-events, which will allow the coaching staff to gauge where to place the racers in next month’s Texas Invitational.
“Most people are doing one of their core events and maybe one other event just to mix it up, which is a lot of fun,” Orr said. “It takes a little pressure off doing your best two events every meet.”
Although the team is undefeated in the dual-meet season, Brackin is still working to determine the best placement of the swimmers for later in the season.
“The whole year, regardless of who we’re swimming, we try to keep to the focal point in mind — the NCAAs and the Big 12s,” Brackin said. “Not to minimize the importance of racing, but we’re always planning to do more.”
After a win against Michigan and Indiana, the team moved up three places in the ranking from No. 7 to No. 4. Brackin said the high ranking was exciting, but not a main motivator for the team.
“I don’t remember seeing anywhere on our team goals to be undefeated in the dual-meet season,” she said. “Not that we wouldn’t want that to happen, but it’s not where an emphasis is placed.”
Orr also said the team was primarily focused on the future.
“It’s exciting to be up there with Arizona and Stanford,” Orr said. “But it comes down to the team that can put together the best three days at the end of the year.”
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