Following a few weeks off for winter break, Denver’s swimming and diving team is eager to compete in the remaining stretch of their season.
With the conference championship during the middle of February in Indianapolis and the NCAA Championship in Atlanta, beginning March 17 for women and March 24 for men, the Pios are focused on amplifying their trainings to produce qualifying and winning times.
Denver redshirt junior, Kyle Robrock (Savage, Minnesota), comments, “The hard part of the season is over. [We] have trained through the fall with very few meets, so staying focused on training in the pool and the weight room is the key to [our] success as a team. [We] are currently undefeated, so I expect great things from [our] team.”
Denver is hopeful to carry momentum from their last competition at the Hawkeye Invitational (Iowa City, Iowa) on Dec. 4-6, where the Pios logged an astonishing 13 new school records.
Among these records, sophomore Ray Bornman (Mackay, Queensland) broke his previous school record in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 43.17.
Junior Amanda Sanders (Superior, Colorado), initially set a school record during the preliminary rounds of the 200 breaststroke. She continued on to place first, beating her prior time with a 2:08.76 finish and a NCAA qualifying swim.
“It’s an exciting experience [setting a school record], to know that you have swam faster than any other swimmer before you is exciting because it means that your name will go up on the record board in the pool,” said Sanders.
Sanders hopes that her time will inspire other athletes to strive to beat her record in the future.
“The sport continues to get faster every year and I believe that it has yet to reach its peak,” she said.
Over the past weekend, Denver defeated the University of Wyoming in the first meet of the new year.
The men topped the Cowboys 164-136 and the women won 157-141 over the Cowgirls. Sanders continued to finish on top in the 200 yard breaststroke with a swim time of 2:17.08.
The Pios return to El Pomar Natatorium on Friday, Jan. 15 to host the University of Minnesota and Brigham Young University. Diving is scheduled to begin at 4:45 p.m. and men’s and women’s swimming will follow at 5:30 p.m.
