Yesterday, the Wisconsin men's and women's swimming teams traveled to Austin, Texas to compete in the Texas Invitational, arguably their biggest meet of the season thus far. The meet, which begins Thursday, will be a true test for both teams.
For the men, the season thus far has been one of give and take. After a dominating performance in their first meet against UW-Milwaukee, the Badger men lost their next two dual meets against Iowa and No. 3 Arizona. After that short losing skid, the men's team bounced back against Big Ten opponent Northwestern. The Badgers put up a commanding performance, winning 12 of the 16 events.
In many ways, the outcome of the Texas Invitational could greatly affect team morale for the rest of the season. Both of their losses this season have come on the road at dual meets.
However, they will not be alone in hostile waters this week, as a total of eight teams will be competing in the invitational. This should take some pressure off the Badger swimmers as the outcome will not be a straight-forward win/loss scenario.
This meet is important to us,"" Wisconsin men's and women's swimming head coach Eric Hansen said. ""It's our first really focused meet of the year and we expect to be at our best.""
While standout swimmers such as seniors Scott Rice and Kyle Sorenson may lead the team in experience, success in Texas will ultimately depend on a strong team effort. However, with the Badgers' young freshman talent, working as a team should hardly be an issue.
The road to Texas has been a different one for the women of Badger swimming. In dual meets, the Badgers have gone 3-1, with that only loss coming against No. 1 ranked Arizona. Unlike the men, the women have competed in an invitational early this season and took home fourth place. Despite their success this season, the Texas Invitational will still be a big test for the lady Badgers.
To compete well in Texas, the women will have to stick with the approach they've used all season, team work. Whether it is through relays or individual events, every Badger finds some way to contribute in every meet. As they usually do, the 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore Maggie Meyer, freshman Ashley Wanland, senior Christine Zwiegers, and Beckie Thompson must jump start the Badgers in Texas.
""It will give us a good indication of where we're at,"" Hansen said. ""We don't want to be at our best for the season at this meet, but it's the prelude to our big training trip in January and our preparations for the NCAAs.""
While the men may rely on senior leadership and freshman talent and the women may rely on all-around dominating performance, both teams also have another advantage on their side, their new suits. This week, both the men and women's team will be sporting new BlueSeventy Nero suits. The design is similar to the one Michael Phelps wore in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Five world records were broken in November by swimmers wearing the Nero.
With both teams coming off big wins against Northwestern and sporting new suits, the men and women of Badger swimming have high hopes entering the Texan water. However, they will have to be at their best in order to overcome the tough competition that awaits them down South.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
