The Bowling Green swimming and diving team will compete in a Mid-American Conference meet this weekend in the Eastern Michigan Collegiate invitational.
While the team may not be seeing the same competition they will face later in the championship meet, they will have a chance to get used to the location: the same location of the MAC championships later in the season.
Head coach Petra Martin said this meet will give the team an opportunity to have a dry-run before the real thing.
“This is our opportunity to swim in the same pool, stay in the same hotel, eat the same food, get the logistics down, what’s going to be happening in a couple months and get everybody comfortable and adjusted to what’s going to be happening later down the road,” Martin said.
Martin said she scheduled the invitational for that purpose.
“We swam Eastern, but we swam them at Oakland, otherwise we’re not going up there at all this year,” Martin said. “So this is our opportunity to get to that pool and to get
everybody situated.”
Aside from getting extra preparation for MAC Championships, the women will also continue gaining experience in the pool.
After finishing 9th out of 17 teams in the Georgia Tech Invitational, Kristin Filby is hoping to finally perfect certain techniques.
“I think my goal is to try to get those times again and be close to them,” Filby said. “I think a lot of people have a lot of things to work on that we learned from Georgia. So I’m expecting just to be working on those little things, especially our relay starts.”
The women have had away meets since the first dual meet in October. Despite being away, sophomore Victoria Griffin said the travel does not affect the team anymore.
“I know that the first away meet is always the hardest, because it’s kind of like getting back into that [situation],” Griffin said. “But I think now we’re kind of used to it so I don’t think it’s taking a toll.”
Martin said this meet is important for the pre-MAC Championship experience, but also to continue success in the season.
“We’re not really changing that much,” Martin said. “I mean there are some things that some people can do better. Otherwise the approach is the same. We’re treating it as a get-ready meet for the end of the season.”
The invitational begins on Dec. 5 and continues to Dec. 6.
