Como meet

Ladue swim and dive competes in swim meet at Mizzou

by Lathan Levy health & sports staff

The girls swim and dive team competed in a major meet (COMO) Jan. 20 at the University of Missouri in Columbia. This event places teams against each other from all parts of the state that usually do not swim against each other.

“This is the first year that [COMO] will have a varsity cut," senior Liza Yanuck said. "That means you need to have a certain time or below in at least one event to qualify for the varsity race. There's also a JV race and anybody on JV can swim it. This is the only time that Ladue sends a varsity team and a JV team because we are usually just one team.”

There will be 25 girls in attendance, swimming in a variety of races. Aside from the desire to win this major meet, several swimmers are hoping to solidify their spot in the state final meet at the end of the season.

“Individually, a lot of people are trying to solidify their state cuts,” Yanuck said. “They're trying to be the top and to get a time that is in the top 32 in the state. This is the first time that we will swim against a lot of these teams that we're going to see at state and so we're trying to see how we rank comparatively.”

The team felt optimistic going into the meet. During the season, the team usually has two meets a week, however in preparation for COMO there is usually only one a week, and time is spent more on rest and recovery.

“I think we will do well because being able to pace off others helps a lot of people [get a new personal record],” junior Anna Dalton said. “And a significant amount of people will end up getting [new personal records] just because of the racing environment.”

Aiden