The St. Bonaventure University swimming and diving teams defeated Canisius College 167-131 in men’s and 158-142 in women’s, powered by strong swims in the relay events.
The Bonnies won three of the four relay events in the meet and have performed consistently well this season in both the freestyle and medley relays.
Junior backstroker and freestyler Matt Taccard said the team has been producing some impressive times that were unexpected, but they have been a huge factor for winning the relays.
“I feel like this year we’ve had a lot of guys step up, especially in the relays where you need every single guy to step up in their leg to win the event,” said Taccard. “We’ve had a lot of guys who have pulled out times that would not have been realistic for them, but they proved to us that they can really step up.”
Taccard and junior freestyler Jordan Powers said they like swimming the relay events more than individual events. Powers said swimming in relays really incorporates the team into swimming, rather than just the individual swimmer.
“I like relay events more because swimming is a largely individual sport, but there is still a team aspect,” said Powers. “I think when you’re on a relay, you can get a lot more hyped before your race because you have other people, and you’re all trying to do the best you can, not only for yourself, but for them.”
Senior butterflyer and freestyler Bridget Jordan said that she and her teammates are more relaxed before relays because they can get on the blocks and swim, since there isn’t as much pressure as there would be in an individual race.
“I know a lot of us don’t get as nervous, and we can get up there and just swim,” said Jordan. “A lot of times you swim faster than you would in individual events just because it can be more low-key. You can just get up there and have fun.”
Powers said the most important legs of the relay are the first two, so that the swimmers can try to build a lead for the remainder of the race.
“I think the leadoff is definitely important to determine how well the race will go, also with the second leg,” said Powers. “If you can get that early lead, it’s a lot easier to hold onto it rather than trying to fight your way back into the race.”
Taccard agreed when it comes to the freestyle relay but said that for medley relays, each leg has equal importance.
“No one specific leg is more important, because you’re the only person doing that stroke, so it’s all on you to contribute,” said Taccard.
Jordan and Powers both said getting off the block fast at the start is one of the keys to having a good relay.
“In season, we do sprint relays, which are the 4×50 and 4×100, so our starts are important. That’s where you see the difference between a relay that’s good and a relay that’s really good,” said Jordan. “I think practicing them has gotten us to where we were at A10s while still in-season, which is great to see.”
Taccard said a key is to try to imagine how the race is going to go and to build the lineup of the four swimmers based on that.
“You never know going in to a relay what splits guys are going to have,” said Taccard. “It’s good to have a lineup for relays, like putting specific guys in specific places and trying to imagine what the race is going to be like.”
Bonaventure is back in the pool from Friday to Sunday, Dec. 2 through 4, at the Akron Zippy Invite. Jordan said the teams need to keep up the work rate they have been on and ensure that they are staying healthy over the next three weeks.
“Now is a time where a lot of people are getting sick and run-down,” said Jordan. “We have to take care of our bodies, while also keeping the effort up in the pool.”
Taccard said that the Thanksgiving break makes training for the meet stressful for the coach because the athletes can go home, which means they’ll have to train by themselves.
“The biggest part of the next three weeks is the break we have. It’s the first time that we can actually go home, so coach is very worried about how we train at home,” said Taccard. “In swimming, if you take a full day off, it affects you in the weeks to come, so how we prepare at home, and how we come back here and train to lead up to Akron is the biggest part of how we’ll swim there.”
signorra15@bonaventure.edu
