Swimmers Open 2009-10 Season Friday At U.H.
10/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Oct. 8, 2009
The Rice swim team opens its 2009-10 season Friday (Oct. 9) with a double-dual meet across town at the University of Houston. The Owls take on Conference USA rival Houston and Florida International at UH's Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium on Friday at 5 pm. All three teams then return for a second day of competition at UH on Saturday starting at 11 am.
Rice returns a total of 14 letterwinners from last season's team that went 7-7 in dual meets and finished third at the Conference USA Championships. Head coach Seth Huston, now in his eighth year at the helm of the Rice program, stated that he has liked what he's seen of the Owls' preseason training. The team is ready for an actual meet.
"The team has had an excellent fall thus far," coach Huston said. "I have been really impressed with the intensity and workload they have been able to accomplish. Our fitness level is great and we've had only a few nagging injuries. The sophomores, Shelby Bottoms, Alison Godbe, Alexandra Ernst, Alex O'Brien and Nicole Delaloye, have really taken off."
Friday's portion is double-dual that features the 10-event swimming format, with the 200-individual medley. The two relays will be the 200-medley and 200-freestyle. The day one format follows a traditional first day NCAA schedule for a two-day meet, but hang on to your swim caps! Saturday's second day features an innovative list of events that might cause the NCAA to do a double-take.
Saturday's action has a traditional 800-freestyle relay, a 400-IM and a mile, but there's also some pretty creative (or at least obscure) events the respective head coaches came up with to shake things up a little. Events like a progressive 500-freestyle relay, a backstroke sprint relay, a breaststroke sprint relay, a progressive "class relay" (with a swim order of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors).
There are a host of relays set for Saturday. The meet will wrap-up with another one of coach Huston's own creations - a "500-group relay" like in bicycle-racing at a velodrome. Innovation is nothing new for coach Huston. Recall he devised (and won) the first-ever aquathon meet (against Tulane). The head coach said that swimmers often get stuck on what they get in their individual times, and not competing. A day like Saturday helps the student-athlete re-focus.
"This relay format will give us an opportunity to race and compete, but not necessarily dwell on what their times are," Huston said. "It is early in the season and we will see traditional formats for most of the rest of the season."
The full schedule of events is as follows:
5 PM Friday, Oct. 9 (Normal Dual Meet Scoring)
200 Medley Relay
100 Freestyle
500 Freestyle
3mt Diving
200 Freestyle
100 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke
1mt Diving
100 Butterfly
50 Freestyle
200 IM
200 Freestyle Relay
11 AM Saturday, Oct. 10
800 Free Relay (4 X 200 Free)
400 IM (4 X 100 IM)
500 Freestyle Relay (50-100-150-200)
200 Butterfly (4 X 50)
200 Backstroke (4 X 50)
400 IM (individual)
Diving (decided by coaches)
200 Breaststroke (4 X 50)
250 Progressive Relay (25 Freshman, 50 Sophomore, 75 Junior, 100 Senior)
1650 Freestyle (individual)
500 Relay with three Swimmers swimming at the same time from each team
