SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word swimming and diving teams will each host a dual meet on Tuesday at the Anne Barshop Natatorium starting at 3 p.m. The women take on Rice University while the men will go up against SMU.
The UIW women competed against the Owls earlier this year at the UIW Christmas Invitational. Rice finished in first place while the Cardinals were second. The Cardinals swam at UC San Diego last and put in a great week of training on the West Coast. Rice enters the meet ranked #13 in the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Rankings. Their last meet was last week at Florida Gulf Coast where they lost, 134-71.
"It's the time of year where the good teams find a way to forget the aches and pains and find a way to touch the wall first regardless of how they feel," said UIW head coach Phil Davis. "I'm thankful to Coach Huston bringing his team to compete so our men and women have a home meet on campus. We are excited to swim against Coach Sinnott and his SMU team for the first time as well."
The UIW women are led by
Alona Kyselova and
Mariana Olguin in the pool and
Mallory Draper and Kim Foster on the boards. Kyselova is good in a large number of events, but she excels in the individual medley and long distance races. Olguin has stepped up as the team's top freestyle sprinter as a red-shirt freshman. Draper and Foster have each been consistent this year with Draper performing better on the 1-meter springboard and Foster better on the 3-meter board.
The UIW men are currently ranked #41 in the nation and #9 in the Mid-Major poll. The Mustangs come into the meet ranked #26 in the Mid-Major poll. The Cardinals have a deep team that has only gotten better over the semester break with some key additions.
Brendan Schaffer, the top diver on the team, and
Will Fussell, a back stroke and butterfly specialist, competed in their first meets of the season over the break and immediately strengthened the squad.
Freshmen
Beau Fusilier and
Kyrylo Shvets have been the top newcomers on the team this year, but they are backed up by a number of strong upperclassmen.
Kaulen Applin,
Jorge Escarcega,
Connor Hennessy and
David Moore were each part of the 2014 CCSA Championship team and they have provided the leadership and quality needed for this year's team to make a similar run.
SMU has a strong team that finished 39
th at the NCAA Division I Championships and were second in the American Athletic Conference last year. They have a strong group of divers led by three-time AAC Diver of the Week Bryce Klein. They will provide the Cardinals with excellent competition as they are a little more than a month away from the conference meet.
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