By Pk Bartley
Dedication, devotion, and hard work describe what it takes to be a member of the University of Louisville’s swim team. All of those signs are evident as the swim team prepares to begin their season. If this year is anything like last year, there will be a lot of excitement around both the men’s and women’s teams. Last year, the women’s team won their conference championship, and the men were competitive in every meet. However neither team wants to bask in the glory of their achievements from last season. Both teams know that if they rest on their laurels they will not succeed this year.
The year is going to be very different for the women’s team. Last year Rick Hill coached both the men and the women. This year, the women have a new coach, Sonja Porter. Hill is also excited about Porter being at U of L this year. “She has so much energy that she energizes me as well,” Hill said.
Another change is that the women’s team is entering into conference USA this year, which will be more competitive than their old conference, the Midwest. Porter is excited about the work that the women’s team has put into the new training program that she has brought to the team which can only be described by one word – intense. Porter’s style is based on weight training, yoga, and calisthenics.
Junior, Catherine Dievendorf competes in the 500 free style and 200 free style. “The new training is hard and it is stuff that most of us have not done before,” Dievendorf said, “but I think that it will be good for us.” Dievendorf’s main goal for this year is just to help the team improve over all.
“Hopefully we can break a lot of our school records,” Porter said, “that is probably our highest goal this year.”
However, Porter feels that due to the size of the team, they will be thin in some areas in the meets. One of the many expectations Porter has for the team is for each swimmer to show improvement. Likewise, the swimmers want to improve as well.
Senior, Angela Hong competes in the 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly, and the 100 breaststroke. Hong would like to be in the top-5 in the conference in her events and believes that the team overall can be very competitive in conference USA.
As for the men, one of Coach Hill’s main goals, as it is every year, is to have a winning record. Hill believes that the team will be the strongest in the backstroke, the butterfly, and the sprints. He also believes that the team will have to work hard in the distance free style because the team was decimated in that event due to graduation.
One of the top swimmers on the men’s team is junior, Ryan Eatherly who’s events include the 100 backstroke and the 200 butterfly. Eatherly’s main goal for himself is to improve on his times from last year, and to place well in the conference meet. Eatherly likes the new style that coach Porter has brought, not only to the women’s team, but the men’s team as well. “I don’t know about everybody on the team, but I love it,” Eatherly said of Porter’s training. “It’s a big change from last year. Last year in the locker in the locker room we used to complain, now we talk about the ‘good old days’.”
Another one of the top swimmers in the men’s team, Jacob Grieb competes in the 50, 100, and 200 free style. Grieb thinks that if the team puts the work in, they can have a good year because there are a lot of great swimmers on the team. He feels that he has improved a lot since his freshman year at U of L by getting faster and improving his technique. As for individual goals, Grieb wants to improve his times in all three of his events.
With all the hard work they are putting in, both the men and women’s swim team should be ready to excel in this upcoming season.
