Bucknell Men's Swimming and Diving Blog - Team Captains
10/15/2015 3:25:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving
The season for the Bucknell University Men's Swimming and Diving team officially began on August 31, as the team jumped backed into training together for the first time since the Spring of 2015. Six members of our team stayed on campus this past summer to swim and dive with the coaching staff in Lewisburg. The summer months offer a great opportunity to focus on swimming in the 50-meter pool set up. This long course set up is particularly important this year as many members of the team have their sights set on qualifying for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, which can only be done in a 50-meter pool. Our goals for this season are both long and short term, and reflect the higher standards that the team will hold themselves to this year.
Throughout these past six weeks of training, Coach Schinnerer has been pushing the envelope to get the team ready to compete as quickly as possible. The beginning of the season has been focused on building a solid aerobic base in the pool and general strength in the weight room. In both training and in meets, we focus on four main concepts; prepare, perform, recover, and have fun. Each day in practice, and before meets, we prepare for what's ahead and focus our attention on what we need to accomplish both as individuals and as a team. During the actual practice and race, we push ourselves to the next level to perform to the best of our ability. After performing, we must take care of our bodies and properly recover by warming down after a race and stretching after practice. Finally, and most importantly, we do our best to have fun and enjoy our time together both racing and practicing. Having fun cultivates a positive team mentality that will serve us well and help this team achieve its goals.
The duel meet season began with an unscored meet at home against UMBC. This meet was a terrific place to start the year and helped to show the freshman what a college duel meet is like. In the upcoming weeks, the team will travel to Boston University for a dual meet on November 17 and then face Pittsburgh at home the following Saturday. These two meets present challenges and fantastic opportunities to swim fast and dive well against two strong programs. The next meet after Pittsburgh will be away in Annapolis, Maryland, at the Naval Academy for a quad meet between the Midshipmen, American University and Lafayette. This meet, which will be swam in long course meters, is a chance for us to get accustomed to the longer pool and make strides towards the Olympic Trial time standards. Our team is preparing for these meets with incredible enthusiasm and is excited for the upcoming competition.
In addition to the work we are doing in the pool and on the boards, the team will be volunteering at the RiverWoods independent living community in the next few weeks. We will be carving pumpkins with the residents and assisting with coordinating a trick-or-treat event for local children. Our team feels a strong connection to the local community, which is only bolstered by the swim lessons we give to kids in the Spring months. We are excited to give back to the local community and to have a good time while doing so!
The men's team has been working to create a team identity that promotes aggressiveness in practice and meets, and a positive environment for individuals to attack the challenges put in front of them. The team is motivated and focused on making the most of the opportunities we have to learn and improve every day. With an incredibly strong group of first years joining what was already a very talented and deep roster the 2015-16 season is shaping up to be the most exciting in recent memory.
- Team Captains Steve Grune, JT Nangle and Will Rappaport
Players Mentioned
