BY ANDREW HALE, STAFF WRITER
Coming off their longest break of the season, the St. Bonaventure men’s and women’s Swim and Dive teams return to the pool as they head to Cleveland, Ohio to compete in the Magnus Cup from Nov. 17-19.
The Bonnies, who have not competed since Nov. 5, have utilized their week-and-a-half break between meets.
“This was our first opportunity to rest a little bit,” head coach Mike Smiechowski said. “Last week was our last preparation, practicing swimming with high volume, whereas this week letting our foot off the gas and being ready to go for Thursday.”
Cleveland State University, which has hosted the Magnus Cup since 2012, welcomes numerous schools from across the country. For Bonaventure, this is the first time in the Cup’s 10-year history that the team has participated in this invitational.
The Magnus Cup will allow for the Bonnies to test themselves against tough competition, according to Smiechowski.
“There are some teams in non-A-10 conferences that’ll help give us a different perspective and different look on where we are at,” Smiechowski said. “Facing teams like Duquesne, Cleveland State and Xavier in that type of championship environment will be good for us.”
After starting the season with a few wins, the Bonnies have not been able to replicate that early success. The women’s team, who beat Saint Francis in the first meet of the season and finished second in the Colgate-Invitational, have been defeated in every match since. Similarly, the men’s team has not found much success since their first-place finish in the Colgate-Invitational.
While both teams fell to Cornell in their previous meet on Nov. 5, the young team has learned some valuable lessons that they’ll take to Cleveland, according to Smiechowski.
“To race with a little adversity, to race with some fatigue against Cornell will help us this weekend,” Smiechowski said. “Being able to swim fast while tired will come into play toward the end of this championship meet. I think our previous meets have been a good way to prepare us to swim fast, regardless of how we are feeling.”
Despite the fact that the Magnus Cup will be only the sixth and seventh meet for the men’s and women’s teams, respectively, the Bonnies have already competed against some of the teams that they’ll see in Cleveland.
Bonaventure is going into this weekend familiar with Cleveland State as the two teams have already met in the Cleveland State Tri-Meet and in the A-10-Invitational earlier this season.
The women’s team bested the Vikings at the Cleveland State Tri-Meet, 170-155, in October. The men, however, fell to Cleveland State by a score of 136-158.
The Magnus Cup will be a good indicator of where the team is at and what they need to improve on for the second half of the season, according to Smiechowski.
“We want to be faster than we’ve been,” Smiechowski said. “Our expectations are to race and throw down some of the fastest times we’ve had this season while competing with other good programs.”
The Bonnies will have to swim some of their fastest times in order to secure the 2022 Magnus Cup this weekend.
halea22@bonaventure.edu
