MVC Swim & Dive get ready for conference meets

Ending the season on Jan. 27 with four meets in the span of seven days, the Saluki swim and dive team is beginning their preparation for the road to the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Championships.

Last season, the Salukis finished fourth overall in the conference championship meet. Freshmen at the time, Celia Pulido, Jules Atkinson and Jasmine Rau finished with high placings and a few silver and gold medals. So, the preparation for this year’s meet is being taken very seriously to compete and finish as well as they did last year.

Pulido, Atkinson, and Rau have all been important parts to this year’s team, helping lead the women to wins in seven out of 11 meets on the year.

Pulido finished the 2022 conference championship with a first place gold medal in the 200 meter backstroke, was named the MVC Freshman Swimmer of the year for her performance of holding four school records throughout the season and was named to the All-MVC team.

Fellow 2022 freshman, Atkinson, finished as the Saluki underdog with a gold medal in the 200 meter butterfly after being seeded fifth during preliminaries the day of the event. Atkinson was also named to the All-MVC team.

Another freshman that stood out of the crowd this year is Olivia Herron. In their most recent meet at Mizzou on the 27th, Herron broke the conference record time for the 200 breaststroke with a 2:11.88 time. She narrowly edged out previous record holder, Lauren Pavel, by less than a second to put her place in conference history.

Herron also broke the SIU record in the 400 intramural during the same meet, a sign of terrific things to come heading into the conference championships.

As for the men’s side, they’ve taken wins in six of their nine meets throughout the year, with their only losses being against top-25 ranked Missouri, Purdue, and a narrow loss to McKendree by just 12 points. They ended the year on a Ending the season on such a high note can often lead to pressure to perform just as well in seasons to come. Pulido and Atkinson agreed their prior achievements set a precedent for them.

“It’s not pressure, it’s motivation, because I want to do the same things again this year. I want to get better and break the records I have set, it’s something that will help me to improve and race better than I did last year,” Pulido said.

This is why this year’s conference championship preparation has been taken so seriously, not just by these two athletes but by the entire SIU swim & dive team.

With the last meet of the regular season happening on Jan. 27 and the first day of the MVC conference championship being Feb. 16, the Salukis have a little over two weeks to prepare themselves to perform at the best of their ability.

Some athletes will be stepping away from the weight room in days to come, so when the first day of the meet comes around, they can race at their best ability and without feeling sore.

“Personally right now I’m focusing on the small details of all my races. As a team we’re working on cutting down on our yardage in the water while still maintaining high intensity. Some of us will be stepping away from the weight room so when meet day comes we can perform well without feeling sore,” Atkinson said.

Closer to the start of the tournament, the team will enter their taper period. In swim and dive, this is the period leading up to a big competition when rest is increased and training volume is decreased so the athletes bodies are best prepared.

“Everything matters in this sport, nutrition, sleep, practice. All of this is very important, so we have a strict plan that we follow to get ready for every meet and at this point we’re taking it more seriously and I think it’s going to help us on meet day,” Pulido said.

When it comes to goals, Atkinson and Pulido are both focused on two things:

“My main goal is that I want to qualify for the NCAA championship in the 100 meter backstroke again this year. I want to break my records again so I can see that I’m getting better and improving in all of my events, and obviously have fun,” Pulido said.

Atkinson followed with, “My goals for myself are to go for my best times, score in all of my events, and to have fun.”

The Salukis will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, on Feb. 15 to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in hopes of another strong finish to the conference season. The Dawgs will follow in the MAC championships just two weeks later in Oxford Ohio for another four days to test their skills.

Sports reporter Joei Younker can be reached at jyounker@dailyegyptian.com.