Ed Rudman – Contributor
The Southern swim team’s season is coming to an end as they prepare for their Northeast 10 conference meet that begins on Thursday, Feb. 6.
The final preparations for the conference meet have already begun to take place, as the team rests to cap off the season. The hardest work was put in over winter break when the team went on their training trip in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“For Florida, we spend the whole year gradually moving up in yards when we practice until we get to a certain point where it’s a grind every day,” said Senior freestyler and butterflyer, Leonardo LaPorte. “We get to Florida and that’s when insanely hard practices take place, but we swam extremely well during the week and the atmosphere, being in Florida, helps too.”
The men will be looking to repeat what they were able to do two years ago during the 2017-2018 season and win the Northeast Conference meet. They were able to get second place last year at the meet and will be looking to build upon their runner up finish.
The women have also had great results at the conference meet, as they won during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons and finished third last year. Senior breaststroker and IMer Erin Leirey will be looking to make a splash in her final conference meet of her college career.
“Last year I was a second and a half off the school record for the 200m breaststroke and if I get the school record, then I have a chance to compete at the NCAA meet,” said Leirey. “I scored in the top three last year at conferences in the 200 breast, 200 IM, and 400 IM, so it’s definitely a goal of mine to continue that success.”
One thing Leirey also spoke about was the depth of the team this year and how they did not have that last season to be able to compete with Bentley University and Assumption College.
With little time left in the season, there are still steps to be taken to be fully prepared for the meet on Thursday. The swimmers will finish up their rest, shave, and wear tech suits for the meet, all to cut down as much time as possible.
“We’re in the middle of rest and pulling back on yardage, we’re going to shave down and they’ll put on a tech suit, which are pretty pricey items but everyone wears them,” Head coach, Tim Quill said. “Hopefully the combination of these things and a good mental attitude could result in some big swims.”
All the hard work for the season has been completed and now it comes down to the culmination of all that work when conferences begin this week.
Head coach Quill said, “I think we’re in a good place physically, they look like they’re in good shape, and we’re in a good place mentally. Every year is a different year and every team has a different makeup, and this men’s and women’s program has been very focused this year.”
