NORMAL, Ill. – Head coach Caitlin Hamilton has announced the 2021-2022 Illinois State Swimming & Diving schedule.
"As we worked to plan out this year's meet schedule, we wanted to focus on racing opportunities that would challenge us," Hamilton said. "Racing both Big Ten programs and top level MVC talent will help prepare us to be our best when it comes time for championship season. The team has had an exciting preseason of training. I'm ready to see that excitement carry over into competing in a couple of weeks."
The 'Birds will open the season at home when they welcome Evansville to the Horton Field House pool on Saturday, October 23 for their season debut. The meet is set to begin at 12 p.m.
The following weekend will be a busy one for ISU with the team traveling to Carbondale, Illinois on Friday, October 29 followed by a trip to Lebanon, Illinois on Saturday, October 30. On Friday, the Redbirds will see competition from both the Missouri Valley Conference and the Big Ten going up against conference foe Southern Illinois as well as in-state rival Illinois beginning at 5 p.m. Illinois State will wrap up a busy weekend on Saturday in Lebanon when they compete against McKendree and Maryville starting at 10 a.m.
After a jam-packed start to the season, the 'Birds will take a three-week break to recover and train before traveling to West Lafayette, Indiana for the Purdue Invite from November 18-20. Times for the Purdue Invite are to be announced at a later date.
Illinois State will return from the holiday break to host Northern Iowa at the Horton Field House pool January 14-15 with times to be announced closer to the competition.
The Redbird swimmers will get their final tune-up before the Missouri Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday, January 29 and Sunday, January 30 when the squad makes a trip to the Eastern Time Zone in Indiana. The 'Birds will compete against Indiana State in Terre Haute, Indiana on the 29th followed by a trip to Indianapolis on Sunday, the 30th for the Butler Invitational. The start time of the Indiana State dual meet is to be determined, while the Butler Invite is slated to begin at 11 a.m. central time.
ISU's divers will make their final preparations for the conference meet at the UIC Diving Invitational on Saturday, February 5 in Chicago, Illinois with the start time to be announced closer to February.
The 2022 MVC Swimming & Diving Championships are set for February 16-19 in Iowa City, Iowa. More information regarding the Valley Championship meet will be released by the league office at a later date.
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