After six months, 12 dual meets and thousands upon thousands of laps in the Aquatic Center pool, the four days the Ohio swimming and diving team has been waiting for have finally arrived.
The Mid-American Conference Swimming and Diving Championships begin tonight at Miami's Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center with two relay finals, the first of 20 events that will be contested by eight schools before a champion is crowned Saturday night.
Ohio coach Greg Werner said he builds his team's entire training schedule with an eye towards the championships. For him, the dual meets of the regular season act as the dress rehearsal, with the purpose being to peak this week.
The dual meet season is great
but our philosophy is definitely to peak at the championships and we build towards that all season Werner said. There's always nerves; I think part of that's a by-product of our philosophy when you put in all that work all year shooting towards the championships.
Historically, Ohio (10-2, 5-2 MAC) and host Miami (9-4, 5-2 MAC) have dominated the event, combining to win 26 of 29 MAC Championships all-time, including the last two.
And once more, the rivals are two of the top contenders this year.
Although the Bobcats walloped Miami 167.5-132.5 earlier this season in Athens, swimming at home, where they haven't lost to MAC competition in more than two years, could be an enormous edge for the RedHawks.
It's huge
Werner said of Miami's home pool advantage. No one's more familiar with the facilities than them
whether it's the diving boards or the pool
the temperature of the water
the temperature of the air.
Miami might be Ohio's biggest rival traditionally, but Toledo looks to be the team to beat this year. The Rockets went a perfect 7-0 in the MAC, including dominating victories over the Bobcats (180-118) and RedHawks (174-124).
Werner did list Toledo as the pre-event favorites, but also stressed the difference between success in the dual meets and success at the year-end championships.
(Toledo's) record tells me they know how to win
but it's a completely different scoring system and different philosophy
he said.
Honestly
it's a brand new season.
Ohio returns three individual MAC champions from last year's competition, as well as three-fourths of its victorious 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay teams.
Senior Chelsey Bower will be defending her 50-free crown, while juniors Stacey Huber (1,650 free) and Rachel Heim (100 butterfly & backstroke) will also be looking to again bring back individual titles.
Heim, in particular, will have a hefty part to play in determining if the Bobcats are to return to Athens with the title.
Named MAC swimmer of the week four times this season, she will be competing in seven events, the maximum number allowed at the meet.
Rachel is the type of athlete who can handle swimming seven events
and honestly
