Illinois swimming and diving is back off of a tough week of training during its bye week. Illinois will take on Illinois State on Friday night in Normal, Ill., in its first away meet of the season.
“It was a challenging week,” head coach Sue Novitsky said. “We got a lot of work done in the pool and in the weight room. … (We) just keep building that base.”
Since 2000, the Illini have defeated the Redbirds in each of their 12 head-to-head meetings. The last time the teams competed in Normal was two years ago, when the Illini emerged victorious with a final score of 175-123. But past victories aren’t allowing Illinois to change its strategy.
“At a home meet, there’s an automatic intensity (that) you bring to the pool. … You don’t really have to work to build an intensity at a home meet,” senior Kathleen Knight said. “So traveling away, it’s not very far, but you still have to work to make sure you stay very ‘in the moment’ and not let it get away. It’s not a vacation. You’re still going, you still have to keep the meet in mind and keep that as the foremost focus. Get in, get the job done, get out.”
Novitsky agreed that traveling away added a different element to the meet and that the swimmers and divers lose their sense of comfort. She said she wants her team to be as consistent as they are at home and get themselves ready to go.
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Novitsky said in past meets with Illinois State, Illinois has let down a bit in terms of putting together complete races, part of the reason being the difference in environment.
Illinois State’s pool is especially different from the Illini’s home, having only six lanes instead of the usual eight. Senior Sarah Coady said that this causes cramped warmups and can sometimes add to the loss of comfort.
“It’s a mental preparation thing as compared to here, when we know this pool and we know what to expect,” Coady said.
Knight and Coady both said that distance is going to be one of the biggest struggles for the Illini heading into this meet. Redbird senior Tori Alland poses the largest threat with personal best times of 4 minutes, 55.81 seconds and 10:10.88 in the 500- and 1,000-yard free, respectively.
“We’re always putting together a lineup so that we’re looking to win the meet,” Novitsky said. “Our strength is still our stroke events, so we’ll be looking to capitalize in those and take advantage of those freestyle events where I think we can gain some advantages.”
J.J. can be reached at [email protected].
