by Megan DePrimio, Staff Writer
Along with the other SVC winter sports teams, the men’s and women’s swim teams are preparing for a successful season. With last year’s teams essentially remaining intact, head coach Josh Gurekovich is excited for the upcoming months.
Last season, both the men and women had great performances. Despite sustaining several injuries, the men recorded several lifetime best times and broke several school records. Also, the men received the PAC Team Sportsmanship Award. Furthermore, the women recorded several lifetime best times while breaking many school records. Most notably, sophomore Katie Custer placed second in the PAC in the 50, and additionally earned All Coaches Honors.
This year, both teams have lofty but reachable goals. Both the men’s and women’s teams want to break 15 or more schools records over the course of the season. They also want to raise or maintain their GPA and receive PAC Team Academic All-American honors. The men’s team hopes to increase their overall wins, while the women’s team hopes to build up their standing in the PAC.
Senior Adam Hodnichak is optimistic about the performances of both teams, especially when it comes to the PAC Championships.
“As a team, we do not focus a lot on our dual meet record, but more so on overall performance from everyone at the end-of-the-season, PAC Championships. Both teams should be able to compete in a variety of events at PAC’s this year,” Hodnichak said.
Under the leadership of captains Zack Krejdovsky and Sarah Denning, the returning swimmers on both teams look promising, with the freshmen contributing strongly as well.
Coach Gurekovich said, “The freshmen look great. Some are already performing amazingly in the water at practice. All freshmen will have big impact on the team in both dual meets and invitational.”
Also, when not in the water, the team functions like a family. Custer stated, “I love the uniqueness of everybody on the team. Each person brings something different to the team, whether through their personality or work ethic, and helps to complete the family we have. We’re still growing as a team, but I hope this aspect never changes.”
Hodnichak echoed Custer’s sentiments, saying, “I love how our team is a team. We spend so much time together over the course of the season and become a family. We swim together, eat together, work together, suffer together, and care about each other.”
“The team is working very hard in the water right now and is excited to get into the competition season,” Coach Gurekovich said.
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