Illinois swim and dive travels to the West Coast this week to face off against Pepperdine on Thursday and UCLA on Friday. The team is coming off a loss against Kansas, but they have high hopes going into these upcoming matchups.
Head coach Jeana Kempe has nothing but the utmost amount of confidence in the team, even with an astounding 14 newcomers. Kempe touched on the meet at Kansas and the overall outcomes of the events.
“We really thought we could come out with a win at the end,” Kempe said. “However, I thought the girls competed really well … Our 200-medley relay in the first dual meet of the year was faster than we were at any dual meet last year by a couple seconds. Just little things like that were really exciting … Even in the loss there was so much growth from our first year as a coaching staff. We can walk away from that being really excited about where we’re going as a program.”
This season, the coaches have emphasized learning opportunities and making improvements. The team has a lot to learn in this upcoming meet since the format of the events is a little different than usual. Kempe described how the meet at Pepperdine will not include any 100-yard events, only events for 200 yards or more. Additionally, the one-meter and three-meter dives will occur back to back, prior to the start of the swimming races.
While the veteran swimmers and divers on the team prepare in their own ways for the competitions, they also assist the rookies in maintaining a positive mindset going into their events.
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“The transition into college is always hard,” Kempe acknowledged. “Whether you’re a great student academically or an elite swimmer and diver, you still control a lot of different things … We have a group of seven girls that are kind of our leadership council and are also our captains. We talked about heading into the Kansas meet, how we needed a lot of maturity from the upperclassmen, right? Take them under your wing and help them with their nerves. Having teammates that can support you through some of that really does go a long way.”
Obtaining points is of course very crucial to the team; however, it’s also important to recognize the mental aspects behind these meets as well. Being halfway through the academic semester, the swimmers and divers have a lot on their plates outside of their sport.
“October, even in swimming and diving, we refer to it a little bit as more of, ‘Rock-tober,’” Kempe said. “You’re hitting your peak training of the fall, and then you’re also competing. It’s a lot of wear and tear, physically and mentally a little bit because you also have midterms, you also have tests … Rock-tober is really about being disciplined and balanced.”
There is no doubt that this time of the season is extra active for these athletes. Given all the underlying components the swimmers and divers are undergoing, their grit and their passion for the sport continues tremendously.
Kempe and the girls are extra excited to be going against UCLA swim and dive, a top-25 program in the country. With all the new additions to the Big Ten Conference in the near future, there are even more learning opportunities to come their way.
Illinois hopes to leave the weekend with two victories under their belt over the California schools while also getting back into a winning groove for the rest of the season.
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