Jayhawk Swimmers & Divers Head to Columbia for Mizzou Invite
Nov. 30, 2011
COLUMBIA, MO – The Kansas swimming and diving team will conclude the 2011 portion of their season schedule with an invitational meet at Missouri this Thursday through Sunday. KU stands at 4-3 on the year and will compete in its first regular season invite since the Orange Bowl Swim classic last December, where it finished first.
“This is simply our mid-term exam,” said head coach Clark Campbell. “We have had a pretty good training phase for the fall and we have rested for a few days, so we are going to let the swimmers put on the technical suits and see what they can do.”
The competition in Columbia will be comprised of nine total schools, with eight women’s squads including Kansas, Missouri, Boise State, Drury, St. Louis, North Dakota, North Texas and UC Davis.
The Jayhawks already have seen the Tigers once this season, as they dropped a hard fought meet to them on Nov. 11 in Lawrence by a score of 185-102. They also swam against North Dakota, defeating the Fighting Sioux 176-117, at a double-dual in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Oct. 22.
KU does not have any recent history with St. Louis and UC Davis, but has competed against Drury last season, sweeping a double-dual between them and North Dakota. The Jayhawks have not gone up against North Texas since the 1999-2000 season.
“I think it helps swimmers when they don’t who they are racing,” Campbell explained. “You just need to know what heat and lane you are in and go without worrying about whose around you.”
Kansas has had a bit of a break since their last meet, a 150-78 victory over Nebraska-Omaha on Nov. 19. The 11 day lay-off is the team’s longest since their near two-week break between their Illinois and Missouri home meets (Oct. 30 – Nov.11).
“I think rest really helps because it enables us to get the team healthy and put in a really good training block,” Campbell said. “When you race a lot, you tend to get race fatigue, so it is important to take a break and get some good training in before you get to that performance state again.”
KU swimmers will have a chance to elevate their performances to Olympic standards on Sunday, during time trials. One athlete, senior captain Stephanie Payne has already qualified for time-trials next summer in two events (200 fly, 400 IM). Campbell hopes once this weekend is through, Payne won’t be making the trip to Omaha alone.
“We have a number of athletes that are right on the cusp of a trial cut,” Campbell said. “I think our 400 freestylers have a chance and that includes, Morgan Sharp, Shannon Garlie and Rebecca Swank. They all have a legitimate shot at making the trial time.”
Campbell also thinks that Stephanie Payne could make it a trio of events if she performs well enough in the 200 IM.
“It will also be interesting to see how close Abigail Anderson can get to a cut in the 100 backstroke,” he said. “So we have a lot of swimmers that are right in that area and we have a couple more opportunities leading up to Omaha.”
One of those golden opportunities starts Thursday morning in Columbia with preliminaries. Information on the meet and event schedules can be found here: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/miss/sports/m-swim/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/2011TigerInvite.pdf
Live Results can be found here: http://www.mutigers.com/livestats/c-swim/mizzouinvite11/ Log onto kuathletics.com throughout the weekend for results, recaps and interviews.
