A rush in the lanes

Swimming & Diving prepares for their first conference tournament

As the inaugural season for the UTRGV Women’s Swimming & Diving begins to wind down, the Vaqueros are looking ahead of the Western Athletic Conference Championships, which will take place from Wednesday to Saturday in Houston.

As of press time, the Vaqueros are 5-10 in their meets. However, they have competed against universities with both men’s and women’s programs, with the results from both programs totaling their score.

This will be the first and final season that UTRGV Swimming & Diving will be competing in the WAC, as the university announced that the program will be competing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation next season.

In an interview with The Rider, swimming and diving head coach Betsy Graham said she saw some positive results in the program’s inaugural season, but that she would like to see the team get faster. 

“I’m a believer [that] fast swimming breeds fast swimming,” Graham said. “The main focus that I’ve kept the whole year with them was, ‘We only worry about what we’re doing, not what everyone else is doing.’” 

Vaqueros junior diver Delaney Murphy said this season has been a “growing thing,” with the team creating how they want practices to run, their goals and even team chants during meets.

“We’ve really been striving to reach [our goals],” Murphy said. “I think it’s been fun because we’ve been creating things we want at meets. [The cheers] set the tone and kinda keeps us in high spirits.”

She said although some of the meets had rough results for the team, its members have always kept their heads up and attempted to meet their own goals.

“For swimming and diving, we kind of each have our own goals based on what someone swims, or what dives I want to get, or what my other teammate wants to get,” Murphy said. “For me, I want to get specific dives throughout the season. … I want to get my gainer 2.5 on 3 meter and my back 2.5 on 3 meter.”

Graham said she is looking forward to see the team compete in the conference and is hoping to see some of her swimmers qualify for NCAA Swimming and Diving tournaments. 

She added the team is in what she calls “taper,” meaning the team is lowering its intensity to allow for full rest and recovery ahead of the tournament. Murphy described “taper” as “less things but more technique work.”

“They’re just taking one day at a time,” Graham said. “Hopefully by next week, they’ll be repaired enough and ready to go.”

Murphy said the team is hoping that she and her teammates can reach personal bests at the conference tournament.

“That’s all anyone can ask for is doing your own personal best,” she said. “For me personally, I’m excited because I haven’t been in this conference.”

Murphy will compete tower for the first time in the conference tournament and is “excited” to do so.

“I never competed tower when I was younger,” she said. “So competing [in] it for my first time here, it’s exciting. Diving is an adrenaline rush, so I definitely get amped up and nervous at the same time. But when I’m competing, it feels great because I’m doing something I haven’t done before, and it’s scary but fun.”

Following this, UTRGV will send diver Manou Meulebeek to the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships March 10 to 12 in Iowa City, Iowa, as well as any diver that qualifies for it at the WAC tournament.