Jayhawks to compete against LaSalle & St. Michaels in Mayaguez Invite
Jan. 5, 2012
MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico – The Kansas swimming and diving team will put all of their training to the test Saturday, as they swim against LaSalle and St. Michaels (Vt.) in a unique outdoor setting.
The meet will feature six different events against two schools KU has never competed against. Kansas head coach Clark Campbell is looking forward to the challenge of an unfamiliar opponent.
“We do not know much about either program, so it will be a good challenge for us,” Campbell thought. “We are staying in the same hotel, and then we get a chance to race each other, so we are going to be in a real training camp environment.”
Kansas (4-3), last swam competitively at the Mizzou invite Dec. 2-4, where it finished third with 604 total points. This will also be the first time for many KU swimmers and divers to get in an outdoor pool since the 2011 summer swimming season. According to Coach Campbell there are some slight differences that come with swimming under the sun.
“Most of our national level meets are outside, so they (KU swimmers) have to get used to the nuances of being outside and in an outdoor pool,” he said. “It will be a good opportunity to challenge themselves in that situation and see where they are.”
Besides swimming amongst the elements, another change for the Jayhawk swimmers will be the length of the pool they are competing in. Gone is the 25-yard pool that they are comfortable swimming in during collegiate meets.
“The meet is long course, which means we will be competing in a 50 meter pool,” Campbell explained. “With this being an Olympic year, it is good to get into some racing and some different events.”
Saturday’s meet also comes at a good time for the Jayhawks, as they are winding down the majority of their training and are looking to put what they have learned over the last few days into action.
“I think the big thing the meet does is break up the trip a little bit because the main focus is training,” Campbell said. “It does give them something to look forward to competitively.”
LaSalle is out of the Atlantic 10 Conference and enters the meet at 3-1, while St. Michaels brings their own 3-1 mark from the Northeast 10 Conference of the NCAA’s Division II.
The meet begins at 8 a.m. Central time on Sat. Jan. 7 (10 a.m. Atlantic time). A full rundown and order of the events are as follows:
Mayaguez Invite (Kansas, LaSalle, St. Michaels)
200 free
50 fly
50 back
50 breast
50 free
200 IM
RUM Natatorium venue information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RUM_Natatorium
Log onto kuathletics.com following the meet for recaps, results and interviews.
