Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY ANDREW HALE, SPORTS EDITOR
The St. Bonaventure men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams experienced what they called the most grueling stretch of their season last weekend, facing nationally ranked Army and Cornell in back-to-back days.
Scheduling two difficult meets in two days was an intentional decision, according to Bonaventure’s head swimming and diving coach Mike Smiechowski.
“We drove out to Army in the morning of [Friday], we had the meet that night, then we drove back to Cornell the next day,” said Smiechowski. “That takes a lot of energy and takes a lot out of you, which was by design.”
Back-to-back meets against high-quality opponents allowed for the team to prepare for the competition they’ll face throughout the remainder of the season, according to Smiechowski.
“We scheduled teams like Penn State, Army and Cornell, to have [our swimmers and divers] comfortable in an environment with racing people that are faster than them,” said Smiechowski.
Two meets in as many days also took a toll on the team physically, but many players said they prioritized healthy routines in order to recover.
“I prioritized sleep and recovery,” said sophomore diver Ben O’Neill. “It was very important to me that I stretched before and after all my events, and to get rest as soon as we arrived at our hotel Friday night.”
In Bonaventure’s 224-74 defeat to Army, junior swimmer Alexander Behr led the way for the men.
Behr finished first in the 1000-meter and 200-meter butterflies. The German native also participated in the team’s 200-meter medley relay and 400-meter freestyle relay, finishing in third and second respectively.
“I had two really great races against Army in the 200 and 100 fly and was really happy about that,” said Behr. “It was a really good meet. We were formed together in facing strong opponents and did not let ourselves down even when we were racing from behind.”
O’Neill led the way for the Bonnies in the diving portion of the meet. O’Neill finished second in both the one and three-meter dives.
“I had very high expectations for myself coming into this weekend,” said O’Neill. “I was hoping to blow everyone out of the water, but these expectations put more pressure on myself. I was disappointed that I fell short of my own expectations, but I cannot be upset with how I performed.”
In the women’s 231-68 loss to the Black Knights, junior swimmer Silvana Cabrera placed second in the 100-meter butterfly and third in the 200-meter butterfly.
“Our main goal as a team was to get over that mental barrier we create when we compete against bigger teams than us,” said Cabrera. “We did a great job inside and outside the pool. We had great individual swims and relays that put us in the top three ranking of the Atlantic 10 Conference.”
On the diving side, senior diver Kylie McKee finished sixth in both the one and three-meter dives.
“I think that the team did an admirable job while competing against Army,” said McKee. “It was some of the best divers that we [will] go up against, and I believe everyone did a good job holding their own.”
While the Bonnies were defeated on Friday, many team members said they believed that competing against Army, ranked no. 23 in the country by collegeswimming.com, will benefit them in the long run.
“We went in at a competitive disadvantage, and we stepped up and swam very well,” said Smiechowski. “To have those times and how we swam put us right in the mix to compete for an A-10 championship for the men, and right in the mix to compete for a top-five spot for the women.”
Less than 18 hours later, the Bonnies were back competing, this time against Cornell.
Behr said his performance in the men’s 146-86 loss to the Big Red was not what he had hoped. Behr finished second in the 200-meter butterfly and fifth in the 200-meter freestyle. Behr also helped the team to a second-place finish in the 400-meter medley relay.
“Saturday, in all three events, I really failed to deliver what I should be delivering,” said Behr. “I tried to fight hard but couldn’t perform. Sometimes everyone has to fail to become better. That’s what I would pull as the positive thing from the Cornell meet.”
O’Neill had a solid performance against Cornell, placing third in the one and three-meter dives.
“Waking up Saturday morning after going all out against Army the night before was rough,” said O’Neill. Bonaventure’s swimmers were tired and stiff from the night before along with the long bus ride. Overall, the outcome should have resulted with closer scores, but many of our own swimmers had amazing times and performances.”
As for the women, Cabrera and McKnee had improved performances against Cornell.
Cabrera had first-place finishes in the 200-meter IM, 200-meter butterfly and 200-meter breaststroke.
“I am proud of how I did in both meets,” said Cabrera. “My performance on the first meet was different from what I expected; however, I had a second chance against Cornell. I did better on the second meet, where I tried new race strategies.”
McKnee collected fourth-place finishes in the one and three-meter dives.
“Cornell was another tough competition for the team,” said McKnee. “Two days in a row can be hard, but everyone handled it in an amazing way. All the divers that we went against were wonderful people, making the experience a great one for all of us.”
The Bonnies return to the pool Nov. 16-18 when the team will participate in the Patriot Invitational.
“This kind of gives us a dry run for a three-day meet, which would be an indicator of ‘How does our team stack up with the rest of the conference in this type of format?’” said Smiechowski. “In this midseason invitational, if we can compete and possibly beat George Mason, and if we can come out top two in this format with these teams that are going, I think that would give us a lot of confidence going into the A-10s.”
halea22@bonaventure.edu
