The Illinois State swimming and diving team finished their first day of competition at the 25th annual Ayres Hotel & Suites Invitational hosted by California-Irvine at the Anteater Aquatics Complex.
According to head swimming and diving coach
Steve Paska, the weather was rainy with cool temperatures for the first day of competition.
Adjusting to the weather conditions, Jenny Klicka had an outstanding day in the pool. She swam the 400 IM along with the 1650 Yard event back to back.
Jenny had twenty minutes to rest between the 400 IM event and the 1650 Yard event, said Paska. She has been our most consistent swimmer this year and she is a joy to work with.
Another solid swimmer for the Redbirds was Emily Richardson (11:08.10) who had a personal best time in the 1000 Yard Freestyle.
Emily had a long solid day of swimming, said Paska. She swam the 100 and 200 Yard Backstroke back to back and made a season best time in the 1000 Yard Freestyle.
Paska was proud of the way the Redbirds swam for the first day of the invitational.
Most of the athletes swam between six and eight events, said Paska. The team needed a day like this to use as a great training day. It will prepare the athletes for the upcoming dual meet against UIC on Friday.
Krystal Featherston (447.60) had an excellent day on the diving board placing first on the three-meter board. Emily LaVoie placed fifth for the Birds while Allison Kouba placed seventh and Terra Whisman placed ninth.
Head diving coach Carly Weiden was pleased with the final results of the three-meter diving event.
I was very impressed with the way the athletes dove tonight, said Weiden. It was especially refreshing to see that four out of eight divers placed within the top twelve for the Redbirds.
