With the culmination of the swimming season just two weeks away, the Georgetown men’s and women’s swimming teams are stepping up their preparation and expectations. This weekend, both teams will face the University of Maryland in their last dual meet, their final chance to qualify more swimmers for the Big East Championship meet.
The team spent a part of winter break in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where they put in extra hours to get ready for the upcoming weeks. Their trip to the tropics will be key to a successful Big East Championship meet, as it allowed them access to time uninterrupted by class and practice in a longer, outdoor pool.
“We went to Ponce for nine days, and we had two practices every day and then an hour of dry land and abs. So it was very intense, and our practices were definitely really hard,” junior diving captain Christina Daquila said. Daquila believes that, because of this training, the Championship meet will yield impressive results.
In the two meets following the break, the Hoyas’ times were not at their best. Both the men and the women were unable to post the highest scores in the quad meet at James Madison, and were very narrowly defeated later at George Washington. Their rough performances at the meet could have been due to residual fatigue coming off their trip to Puerto Rico.
“Honestly we didn’t swim terribly fast during those two meets, but I have kind of been thinking that this is only a testament to how hard we worked over the training trip,” senior co-captain Greg Germain said. “It doesn’t really concern me or worry me.”
At this point in the year, the team is working to combine productive practices with rest in an attempt to improve each individual’s events. As such, both the men and the women appear to be in good shape to place high at the Championship meet, and success has not been limited to only a few members. Only 18 scoring individuals can be taken to the final meet, but both teams have qualified well over that number. With one more opportunity to cut down times, Georgetown could very well be bringing even more competitors with them to Pittsburgh on February 15th. One trouble for the team is injuries on the women’s side, but head coach Jamie Holder is remaining positive.
“We’ve improved every weekend since the break, which is what I expected,” Holder said. “I’m pretty optimistic about how well we are going to swim at Big East. We’ve had a few key injuries on the girls’ side that could affect some of our relays, but I’m not going to dwell on it, and [we will] do the best that we can with the people we have.”
Overall, Holder says the team is more “cohesive and a good bunch of kids,” which will be very important as the final meet draws closer and pressure heightens. Germain feels the current qualifiers have good chances of breaking Georgetown’s past records, but whether they will be able to surpass rival competitors in endurance and strength remains undetermined. Still, with the work the Hoyas have put in all season, they seem poised as they enter the Big East tournament.
