Swimmers Target Details Heading into Mountain West Championships

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The concern came immediately.

When the pandemic hit and quarantines started, swimmers and divers across the country were locked out of pools. Summers filled with two-a-day practices were non-existent, with many out of the water for a month or more.

All of the lost training was maddening. But as the months have passed, and as the Colorado State women's swimming and diving team came back to school and training, the excuses started to not matter so much.

As least that's what coach Christopher Woodard has seen, especially in the past six weeks after the holiday break, bringing them to the cusp of this week's Mountain West Championship meet.

"I have confidence in the work that they've done in the last two to three months. Absolutely. In some cases I think they've been more focused on asking questions," Woodard said. "Hey, I need a tempo trainer to make sure my rate is right. Will you watch my underwaters? Hey, can you video my starts? Those are things that typically happen in a year, but maybe not the degree they are now. I think they're more cognizant they need to take on a more hands-on approach."

The meet is actually two, with swimming taking place at UNLV, while diving is held at the Air Force Academy. Wednesday's opening day will consist of two relays – the 200-yard medley relay and the 800 freestyle – beginning at 6:30 p.m. The remaining three days, preliminaries will begin at 11 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. The diving schedule for the three days of completion which start Thursday, is set for prelims at noon, consolation finals at 2:15 p.m. and the finals at 6 p.m. The 1-meter springboard will be contested Thursday, the 3-meter on Friday and the platform on Saturday.

Last season, the Rams scored a program-best 830.5 points in the current 24-place scoring format, with every Ram adding to the total, a first for a Woodard-led CSU team.

The time of wondering what they missed has long passed for all the Rams. It's been replaced, by of all things, optimism.

For starters, the simple fact there was a season and even a championship meet, none of which was guaranteed when they first started coming back to campus.

Sophomore Liza Lunina is grasping on to all she's been given, especially considering her freshman season. Injuries and illness took their toll, keeping her off the conference team. For her, the pandemic just extended a frustration dating back to her high school years, and she hit a point where moving forward was her way out of the funk.

She even started running, just to get that competitive feel and do something athletic, building up to a half marathon. Back in the water, she's feeling rejuvenated, carrying the Mountain West's sixth-best time in the 200 backstroke into the meet.

"Swimming is a hard sport. When you're coming in multiple times a day every day of the week, it's very easy for it to become mundane," she said. "This season, everything feels much more intentional. From an athlete's point of view, I think everything is a lot more intentional, and I've seen that from Woody this year."

Many of the swimmers feel what was taken away by the pandemic – team bonding – started to build through the year organically, and what Woodard believes is he'll take a team into the meet which is willing to fight for what they want and for each other.

The two classes who have probably been affected them most are the freshmen, who have had a rather scaled-back introduction to collegiate swimming and college in general. For the seniors, the last hurrah was not exactly as pictured.

To diver Rachel Holland, that's part of where the bond came from, as they were all in it together, and each and every one of them hopes to exit on a high.

"I feel like there were all these expectations. You look at all the upperclassmen going out, and you're like, I get a senior year, we're going to have family and friends to surround us, and that's not how it's been," she said. "But I think it's emphasized the importance of the team, and just how as a team we can be a family, we can build each other up. These girls have been awesome in training. They get me through it and push me to do what I can do with my last year. Hopefully I can do the same for them to get them started."

Even with less time on the board, Holland feels this has been one of her best years in terms of developing new dives and polishing her old favorites, and she places a lot of the credit on coach Chris Bergere being around for a second season.

A Zones qualifier a year ago, Holland will not scale back her personal expectations for the meet. Nor will Kristina Friedrichs, who sprinted her way to a fantastic championship meet in 2020, reaching a pair of two 'A' finals and anchoring some strong relay finishes.

What worked for her last year was keeping from psyching herself out for a big meet, and she feels this year the exact approach may be more important.

"That's what I'm going to do. Last year I wasn't necessarily thinking about times or how I was going to perform, I just decided I was going to have the best time I've ever had at a meet," the junior said. "I'm trying to carry that mentality again this year, because I think it really made a difference. This year is going to be a toss-up. Things have been crazy for everyone. Unexpected things have happened. Challenging things have happened. We have not had the training we usually have. But I really think mindset makes a difference. In that sense, I know things ae going to be challenging, and I don't know how things are going to turn out, but I'm going to go and try my hardest and have a good time, and try my hardest to make sure everybody else has a good time."

For Woodard, the excuses would be easy. They may even carry validity. Then again, every team could draw up the same list, so he's spent the year encouraging his team to push away the past and do all they could with the present.

"The really good teams are separated by their attention to detail," he said. "I feel like our kids have done a really good job, especially since they've returned to campus these last six weeks. They've really been hammering out the details that will help them get their best from races."

He's seen swimmers who may not have been counted on heavily in the past come to the forefront and win races. They've carried some extra burden, but they've taken the task by themselves.

The signs are there. Taking out races hard, fighting to the wall. It all has him feeling good. School records may not fall. Conference records may stand. Those don't matter as much as placing anyway when it comes to scoring a championship meet.

So, as he's told his team all season, it's a why-not year. Particularly this weekend.

Rams with Top 10 Mountain West Times

5. Abbey Owenby, 1,000 freestyle, 10:26.85a
5. 200 freestyle relay, 1:35.61
6. Liza Lunina, 200 backstroke, 2:03.03a
6. 400 free relay, 3:32.80a
8. Madison Hunter, 1,000 freestyle, 10:29.86a
7. 200 medley relay, 1:45.41
8. Kristina Friedrichs, 50 freestyle, 23.61
8. Elsa Litteken, 100 backstroke, 56.75a
10. Jennae Frederick, 200 butterfly, 2:05.61a
a -- Altitude-adjusted time

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