Team Returns To Snow From Sunny Weather

PROVO -- The BYU swim and dive team returned to the Richards Building pool this week after spending last week in San Diego and Tucson for winter training.

“We trained extremely hard this past week,” Head Coach Tim Powers said. “This was the hardest training of the season and I’m pleased with the team and their efforts.”

The entire swim team spent Monday through Saturday of last week participating in winter training in California.

“On Wednesday we sent our distance swimmers to train with UCSD,” Powers said. “That was a really good experience for them because they have some fast guys who helped to push our guys. We spent time working out the rough spots and focusing on our goals for this season as far as conference goes.

“The team also did a lot of long course training that is used in Olympics. This will benefit the swimmers in their efforts to make Olympic trials cuts.”

The team’s next competition is Jan. 15 in Colorado against the women of CSU.

“Right now we‘ve started working on our speed,” Powers said. “CSU always has a good team and every race will have a competitor.”

While the swimmers were practicing in San Diego, the divers visited Tucson for their winter training.

“Our training went good, however the weather wasn’t very cooperative,” Diving Coach Keith Russell said. “ We hung in there, but it was hard for the divers to train and compete at their best.”

The divers competed in all outdoor facilities and faced cold rain and strong winds. However, both men and women saw success in a 1- meter competition against Cornell.

Dayna Christiansen took first while Raleigh Williams and Syrena Miskin took second and third for the women. Brandon Watson placed second while Sam Hatch took third for the men.

“Overall, our trip was a good experience for the divers,” Russell said. “ We’re happy to be back and we’re going to be focusing on our consistency. We’ll have some tough competition against CSU but we’re definitely looking forward to it.”