If there is any indication aside from the obvious that the 2012-2013 season is over, it is that the list of the season goals, once pinned above a desk in Ohio coach Greg Werner’s office, is gone.
With signatures from all athletes on it, the paper guided the team through the last six months.
“We achieved a lot of our goals and a lot of our dreams,” Werner said. “But we also fell short of a lot of our goals.”
Despite placing second at the Mid-American Conference Championships, winning more individual events than last year and posting six new school records, the team and the coaches were not fully satisfied with this year’s outcome.
“The blessing of having a good program is that you’re in the position to challenge for a title every year, but it is also a curse,” Werner said. “If you don’t achieve it, you chew on it.”
Long before the season started, the Bobcats already had to overcome a lot of problems outside of the pool. With the switch from quarters to semesters in combination with an Olympic year, the swimmers had to overcome a shorter summer and a smaller break, being that many tried to qualify for the Olympic Trials.
Moreover, personnel changes within the team didn’t permit a smooth transfer from one season to the next.
“We had a lot of adversity at the beginning of the year,” junior Rachel Stearns said. “We had a couple of freshmen quit and our assistant coach left. Some people took that hard.”
Instead of Anthony Harris, Derick Roe took over the assistant coach position and instituted a different method of training.
“For me it was just coming into a new position,” Roe said. “It was more of a transition for the ladies.”
The problems outside of the pool were reflected in competition. Without the injured school record holders Laurin Williams, a junior, and Tori Bagan, a sophomore, the team first lost to Eastern Michigan in late October. Just more than a week later — then with both swimmers — they fared the same against Ohio State.
It took until January for the Bobcats to bring back success in dual meets. They won six in a row, and then fell short in attempts to secure the MAC Championship.
“We’re constantly re-evaluating what we can do better,” Roe said.
Werner has replaced his season goal list with a team survey that states communication within the team lacked last season.
“We didn’t have as much communication as we should have,” Stearns said. “I want the leadership to be more vocal (next season). The leaders need to stay more positive and reflect their attitudes on to the rest of the team.”
Werner agrees.
“We did some things that were out of character for us that were normally very good,” he said. “Before we can talk about our goals and what we can change, we need to talk about us as a program and how we can get better.”
The Bobcats are already working on it. Despite only having optional training, all athletes were back on the pool deck.
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