By Zach Waltz
Assistant Sports Editor
The men’s swimming and diving team swam away with a substantial 207-125 victory last Saturday in its meet against La Salle.
The meet took place at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, the same pool that will host the Atlantic 10 Championships in February.
The meet is usually a tri-meet between La Salle, Xavier and the Bonnies. However, Xavier was unable to attend this year.
Head Coach Sean McNamee said the meet was a nice first taste of A-10 competition.
“It’s nice to get up against another A-10 competitor,” McNamee said. “La Salle always shows up ready for that meet. We handled them pretty easily this year.”
McNamee said the meet went well, but it was not the best swimming the Bonnies are capable of.
“We had some decent performances, but there were definitely some areas I wasn’t impressed with,” McNamee said. “I thought our relays would be a little sharper than they were. We had a typical mix of good, bad and ugly.”
Junior backstroker and butterflyer Matt Rochna said Xavier’s presence at the meet was missed, and the team needs to improve all facets in the pool.
“It was a pretty good meet overall,” Rochna said. “Obviously, with the absence of Xavier, it wasn’t as competitive as last year, but we were ultimately happy with our performances. We would have liked to have been a little snappier, though. Getting to face our first A-10 opponent and winning, we can’t ask for much more than that.”
McNamee said this year’s team is perhaps the best team the Bonnies have put in the pool in the past couple of years, so they just need to keep working hard and success will ensue.
“It’s just a matter of fine-tuning at this point and moving forward with it,” McNamee said. “We have one of the better teams that we’ve ever fielded. It’s a matter of continuing to develop and improve.”
McNamee said returning to the Spire Institute brought about good memories for the Bonnies who were on last year’s A-10 championship team, but that is in the rear-view mirror.
“For those guys who have been there before, it’s a nice memory that the last time we were there, we were celebrating a conference title,” McNamee said. “It was nice to be able to revel in that a little bit. We purposely sat in a different spot than we did in championships to get a different vantage point.”
McNamee said being at the Spire benefitted the freshmen the most, as it prepares them for what is to come in February.
“For the newcomers, they get to hear a little bit about how it was and what the expectations are,” McNamee said. “The last thing we said as we were leaving was ‘next time we walk in here, it’s going to be for real.’ That sends a message that hopefully resonates to push them even harder in the sessions we’re in right now.”
The Bonnies will head to Cleveland State today at 3 p.m. McNamee said the Vikings always present a tough matchup for the Bonnies.
“In dual meets, they put a lot of stock in coming for us,” McNamee said. “It’s going to be a huge test in another great pool. It’s a quality pool and a fast pool. We have a target on our back with them.”
Rochna said the meet will be a close matchup, as the Bonnies are injury-free.
“It’s going to be a really tough meet,” Rochna said. “Every time we swim against Cleveland State, we bring our best and try to come out with a win. We haven’t beaten them in a couple years now, so we’re hoping to rally the troops here. We finally have a full, healthy squad, so we think we’re going to be very competitive in the meet.”
waltzzd12@bonaventure
