The University of Indianapolis Swim and Dive team recently competed at nationals to represent the school. Earlier in March, UIndy Swim and Dive traveled to Geneva, Ohio and found success on their nationals trip, according to junior swimmer Andrea Gomez. According to UIndy Athletics, the men and women had a total of 84 All-America honors, 12 school records and seven event national champions. Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Swim and Dive Brent Noble said although the teams had lots of success, there is always work to be done.
“It’s hard to quantify a meet that you score third and fourth. You know, really, really good finishes,” Noble said. “So many event wins and records and school records, but not as good as our team finishes from a year ago. And there were a couple holes, so we’ll have to work to fill those holes in the future. But really exciting performances with all the wins and the records.”
Gomez said that she had success at nationals as she had a few personal and school records. According to UIndy Athletics, Gomez had personal bests in the 1000 Free, 200 Back, 200 Fly and 400 Individual Medley. Gomez said as the season went on and the freshmen got used to swimming at the college level the team improved.
“Conference was really good and nationals was amazing,” Gomez said. “Overall I’m happy with myself, all the work I put in that pool. And practicing with my teammates and seeing them every day, that makes me keep pushing and vice versa. So overall, I feel like the season could have been better, but I’m happy with it.”
Gomez said the team’s biggest strengths were working hard and having good communication between one another. She said they do a good job of talking through problems and asking each other for help. She said they also push each other before and during races and cheer each other on.
“I feel like in every sport, you just need to support each other,” Gomez said. “Practicing with friends makes you somehow practice harder or swim faster.”
Noble said one of his favorite moments from this past season was the conference meet. He said it was special because the whole team is present at this meet. Although nationals was exciting, conference is when you get the whole group there and so it is always the most fun, according to Noble. The team is developing, Noble said, and preparing for next year now.
“You finish a season and you get perspective on a lot of things that can be better,” Noble said. “So I’m really excited to do that. I think that we have a ton of room to improve some things and be better as a group. We have a ton to build around. Almost all of our points are returning from nationals which is super exciting. So we’re going to be good. And so the question is how much can we button everything up and do better.”
Gomez said when she returns home for the summer she is going to continue to practice. She said she is going to prepare for next season by lifting, swimming and talking to her coaches about things she wants to improve upon. Overall, she said she is happy with how the season went.
“We’re proud to represent UIndy,” Noble said. “We have a group of people that care very much about representing our school in the best way and working hard to do things in the swimming world that reflect well upon UIndy. So we’re all really proud Hounds.”
