Sept. 25, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State's women's swimming and diving team starts its 2009-10 season with the annual Red/White intrasquad meet Saturday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m., at Horton Pool. The Red/White meet is a tradition for Illinois State swimming and diving, and is intended to prepare the swimmers and divers for competition in the following weeks.
Head coach Steve Paska feels that the Red/White meet is an important aspect of the team's season this year.
"The timing of this meet is essential for us because the 2009-10 season starts tomorrow, with six-straight weekends of competition that follow," Paska said. "This meet will help to get the team into the competitive mindset and is also the first time the 16 newcomers will compete at the collegiate level."
The intrasquad meet allows the coaches to see where the swimmers and divers stand in a competitive environment at the start of the season. Members of the team will be divided into two teams (red or white) and compete against each other in 16 events.
"I'm very excited to see the make-up of this freshmen group of swimmers, especially since this is the largest group of student-athletes we have ever had," Paska said. "It is even more exciting to see how the team competes for the first time together at home."
Paska and diving coach Phil Hoffmann both feel that the team is going to enjoy the fun setup for tomorrow's meet.
"Tomorrow is a great chance for us to perform more dives in front of an audience," Hoffmann said. "It's going to be a good opportunity for the freshmen divers to get a feel for the collegiate level of competition in a comfortable setting here at home."
"The team has been training very hard for these first five weeks of the year and we are looking forward to seeing what all of our swimmers and divers are capable of accomplishing this season," Paska said.
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