Swimming Opens Spring Slate at Florida State
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The University of Miami swimming team opens its spring schedule on Friday with a trip to the Morcom Aquatics Center for a tri-meet with host Florida State and Alabama.
Action from the pool on the Florida State campus is set to begin at 12 p.m. ET.
The Hurricanes are coming off a 14-day stay at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and head swimming coach Andy Kershaw expects the Hurricanes’ trip to pay dividends.
“It has been tons of hard work,” Kershaw said. “It has been great to see how they’ve kind of rolled through it one step at a time. They haven’t gotten too emotional, one way or the other. I think not only have they improved from a physical standpoint, but just as importantly, from a mental standpoint. Continuing to develop the program has been really cool to see.”
The Hurricanes are looking for a strong start to the spring calendar, which includes an upcoming Senior Day meet with FGCU (Jan. 20) and preparations for the ACC Swimming & Diving Championships, which are set for Feb. 14-17 in Greensboro, N.C., and the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships (March 14-17 in Columbus, Ohio).
The team will be traveling straight to Tallahassee from Colorado for the tri-meet.
“I talked to the team and told them I’m looking for them to have a lot of physical energy, mental energy and execute their races the best way possible. There’s really no telling how we’re going to swim,” Kershaw said. “They’re really tired after this training, but that doesn’t meant they can’t swim fast. Coming down from that altitude at the Olympic Training Center, a lot of science suggests you won’t see a lot of benefit in the first few hours or days, but that doesn’t mean we can’t swim fast.”
Kershaw said, despite the grueling training that will prepare the swimmers for the postseason, there are some expectations for Friday’s meet in Tallahassee against the rival Seminoles.
“I told them, I want them to be most energetic team, the most together team, and execute the best races and we’ll see where that puts us from a competition standpoint,” he said.
The Hurricanes became a more close-knit unit during the trip to Colorado, where the Hurricanes arrived on Dec. 28.
“It’s huge in that regard. They all come out of it with a lot more confidence. There’s physiological benefits, but the way they’ve done it mentally, there’s even more benefit,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of time to be together and talk about how we want to be as a team, when we’re together, when we’re competing and wherever – in the classroom, out in society, anywhere.”
The benefits of the Hurricanes’ trip to Colorado will extend long past the spring, Kershaw said.
“There’s a ‘big picture’ part of it too. We have people on the team who want to do some pretty good things in this sport. The next 40 days take us through ACCs and then beyond to NCAAs, but for many of them, that’s not the end.
“Whether this camp has the most impact in the next two to three months or impact in the next two to three years, we’ve got people swimming in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in either of those scenarios, that’s a good thing.”
