The Alabama Crimson Tide swimming and diving team faces the Kentucky Wildcats this weekend as Alabama travels to Lexington, Ky. These two teams are equally skilled, but have different areas of strength.
“Historically, we’ve been a better distance team,” said head coach Eric McIlquham. “Kentucky has seemed to have been better with sprinters.”
This will be the Tide’s second dual meet of the season for both the men and women. The Tide has already competed against Auburn and LSU this season. The men enter this meet with a dual meet record of 2-0.
“We can score in every single event,” said sophomore Reese Shirey. “We have a lot of confidence.”
Every team has their strengths and weaknesses, but Shirey said he feels the men have many advantages.
“I think we have the advantage in distance and stroke,” he said. “I think we even have an advantage in sprinters.”
The women enter the Kentucky meet seeking their first dual meet victory, having lost to both Auburn and LSU. Junior Shelby Hickson said she believes the women also have the advantage in strokes and distance entering the races against Kentucky.
Hickson said the women will have to take advantage of their opportunities to score points.
“As long as we can push each other I think we can score,” Hickson said. “We’re ready to win.”
This weekend’s meet at Kentucky not only showcases two great Southeastern Conference teams but also marks the beginning of the final stretch of the season for the Tide. The idea that the end is near might sound great to those who would be tired after enduring a season that starts competition in October and ends in March, but McIlquham said he believes the goals they set in the beginning help motivate the swimmers throughout the season.
“We talked about NCAAs and the SECs,” McIlquham said. “Our goal at the end was to be top 10 at the NCAA meet.”
The Tide has only two more regular meets after Kentucky before the SEC Championship on Feb. 11. As the team draws closer to SEC Championship, they find themselves with the same goals in mind as they did in the beginning of the season.
“We’ve always been focused on the SEC Championship,” McIlquham said. “We’ve been training really well.”
Since the SEC is a strong swimming conference, talent can be found anywhere, and because of that, McIlquham doesn’t spend time focusing on any specific teams.
“We focus on what we do,” McIlquham said. “We only worry about what we’re doing.”
McIlquham isn’t the only one who keeps the focus on just his team.
“We have no specific teams we focus more time on,” Shirey said. “We do the best we can do. It doesn’t matter what team we are racing.”
Shirey said there are still things to be done to ensure they’re ready before SEC championships.
“We need to finalize our training,” Shirey said. “We also need to focus on what we’re doing in the pool.”
The women admit they have some things they still need to work on as well in order to accomplish their goals.
“We need to train hard,” Hickson said. “We also need to stay positive and push each other. We want to beat Tennessee, LSU, Kentucky and Arkansas.”
As for focusing on any one team, Hickson said every team has the same goals.
“Everyone’s ultimate goal is to win,” she said.
