The swim team is resting up and preparing for the remainder of its conference season. The Wildcats have no meets until Jan. 14, when they will take on Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.
With the time off, coach Gary Gutierezz said he is excited for the chance his team has to recover and improve on its times from previous meets.
“It allows us to go back to the training pool and improve on the things we saw in the meets,” he said. “We have a lot to do in terms of conditioning, race strategy and mental approach to competing.”
Freshman Lee Rivers said he is excited for the month off because he knows that having time to focus on practicing is important for the team.
“I know that everyone on the team can see improvements in performance by watching practice, and everyone — myself
included — is noticing a dramatic increase in cardio and speed from earlier in the season,” he said.
While the team will have a chance to increase its conditioning and prepare for the upcoming championship meets, there is a downside to not having a meet for so long. Sophomore Katie Main said it can be hard to keep focused for such a long period of time but also said that she thinks the team was staying focused and using the time effectively.
“Sometimes, it can be challenging to be practicing for that long without being able to track one’s progress in a meet,” she said. “Also, meets provide great bonding time for the team. I think we’ll really use this time wisely.”
The Wildcats next home meet will be at 1 p.m. on Jan. 29 against Pacific University.

Jerry Young/For the Review
Jerry Young can be reached at [email protected].