S&D to Host Scarlet Knights, Green Wave
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Miami Hurricanes swimming & diving teams return to the water Saturday when they welcome Rutgers and Tulane for their first meet of the spring slate at the Whitten University Center Pool.
The tri-meet against the Scarlet Knights and Green Wave, set to begin at 11 a.m., will represent Miami’s first competition since a dual meet against Illinois State on Nov. 8, where the hurricanes came away with a 165-135 victory.
Head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said his team is ready to get back on the blocks after two months of intrasquad training.
“We’re super excited, in part because it’s been such a long haul of just training, which is the nature of our sport,” Kershaw said. “I talked to our team yesterday and said, ‘You guys should be so excited, because you get to play the sport now…you get to compete.’”
The long layoff hasn’t fazed Kershaw’s Hurricanes, who have enjoyed beach workouts and normal practices scheduled around their holiday break.
“In Miami, this is such a great time and environment for swimming and diving,” he said. “A lot of meets elsewhere take place indoors, there’s interior noise, and the pools smell like chlorine…not here. It’s a beautiful atmosphere here for us to be able to go out and do our thing. We’ve talked to our team about making our venue a special place, and we get another chance to do that tomorrow.”
Kershaw said he expects his Hurricanes to be evenly matched with both opponents Saturday. Miami will have separate scores against both Rutgers and Tulane, while the Scarlet Knights and Green Wave will also compete against each other.
“Those are two programs and two coaches I have a lot of respect for,” Kershaw said. “That’s important, too – going against the types of programs you respect.”
The tri-meet will help prepare Miami for its next competition, when three other schools – Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and UNC-Wilmington – gather in Blacksburg, Va., for another multi-team meet on Jan. 24. The Hurricanes then have a dual meet with FIU remaining (Jan. 31) before preparation for the 2015 ACC Championships (Feb. 18-21).
“We all have our areas where we’re stronger or more talent-heavy, so the ebbs and flows of Saturday’s meet will be pretty interesting,” he said. “I think there will be times when every team has their moment to shine and gain some momentum, and times when other teams will fight back. In that regard, I think it will be a great meet.”
Miami will get a boost from the debut of Ksenia Yuskova, a newcomer who joins the team from her native Moscow and is eligible to compete immediately. Along with Yuskova, Miami will need contributions from junior captain My Fridell, sophomores Cameron Davis and Angela Algee, as well as freshman Julie Suarez, to emerge victorious.
“Almost every team, including I would imagine the two teams we’re squaring off against, are coming out of their hardest phase of training. How teams respond to that remains to be seen – we’ll find out tomorrow,” Kershaw said. “We’ve talked all year about an ‘any time, any place, any one,’ attitude. Hopefully we’re developing that, and that shines through tomorrow.
“It’s not going to be the easiest meet for them to finish in super-fast times, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do it…that’s the challenge. That’s part of the makeup of a championship-type team.”
