Jayhawks Return Home to Face No. 18 Arkansas
Jan. 31, 2013
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The University of Kansas swimming and diving team will host their first swim meet since early November, Saturday, Feb. 2, when they welcome 18th-ranked Arkansas to Robinson Natatorium at 10 a.m.
The Jayhawks (5-3, 1-0 Big 12) will be swimming in their first meet since the conclusion of their training trip on Jan. 20. The meet will be the first of two meets in Robinson to conclude the regular season and prepare the team for the Big 12 Championships. The homestand allows the team to train at a more consistent level without being interrupted by the various hassles of traveling.
“For the most part, everyone is right on track. The entire team had a very good training camp including the time we had in Lawrence,” Kansas head coach Clark Campbell said. “We are hitting on all cylinders. We can stay really consistent with what we have to do to be good. It is nice to race in front of the home crowd and refine our racing skills in competition to set us up for Austin.”
During the later portion of their time in Hawaii and since returning home, the team has turned their training to be more event specific. This change allows the athletes to practice more with the events they will be competing in during the championship season versus the broader aerobic training.
“The kids get really excited for this time of year because you are transitioning from doing the harder aerobic stuff to more of the race pace type of thing,” Campbell said. “Most swimmers like that switch because the aerobic stuff tends to be very difficult and the race pace stuff, while also difficult, gets them focused on their goals for Big 12’s.”
Arkansas (9-1), who is ranked 18th in the latest college swimming poll, comes into Saturday’s meet with nine-straight dual meet victories. The Razorbacks are led by senior Chelsea Franklin, who has qualified for the NCAA Championships the last two seasons, finishing in the top-10 of the 1,650-yard freestyle in both years.
“Arkansas is a very deep team,” Campbell said. “They are a legit top-20 program and they have swam very well in every single meet. Sean Schimmel is their new coach and he is doing a fantastic job. They just keep getting better and better, so we will have our work cut out for us on Saturday.”
Saturday’s dual meet features 12 individual swim events, two relay races and two diving events. The full order of events is as follows:
200-yard medley relay
1000-yard freestyle
200-yard freestyle
100-yard backstroke
100-yard breaststroke
200-yard butterfly
50-yard freestyle
Dive (full break)
100-yard freestyle
200-yard backstroke
200-yard breaststroke
500-yard freestyle
100-yard butterfly
Dive (full break)
200-yard IM
200-yard freestyle relay
Due to the men’s basketball game which tips off at 3 p.m., fans will need to park in lot #34 (behind the computer science building) located off of Sunnyside and Illinois St. Lot #61 and Lot #62 will be used for overflow, but are not specifically reserved for the meet.
The Jayhawks will conclude the dual meet portion of their season next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9, when they host conference rival Iowa State. Action is slated to start at 6 p.m., on Friday and 10 a.m., on Saturday.
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