Swimming takes out UNT at home
John Wooden, considered to be one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time, said, "Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character." And character, indeed, was what the Owls displayed in their last home meet of the season, winning all 14 events to bring down the house, 168-97, against the University of North Texas last Friday. The Mean Green came into the meet ranked 12th nationally by CollegeSwimming.com/CSCAA Division I mid-majors poll, so Rice, unranked, had its work cut out to pull off the upset. Looking to avenge last year's defeat, the Owls came out strong, taking the 200-yard medley relay by a solid two seconds. It was the first of a slew of Rice season-bests, with junior Nicole Delaloye winning the 1,000-freestyle (10:22.29), and senior Ashten Ackerman taking the 200-yard butterfly (2:06.77) and 200-breaststroke (2:24.28) in the last home meet of her career.
Ackerman said that her focus was completely on helping the team gain a win.
"I went into this meet not even focused on the fact that it was my last home meet," Ackerman said. "We were focused on beating North Texas and getting ready for the meet at [Louisiana State University on Jan. 28]."
Freshman standouts Chelsea Fong and Michelle Gean placed first in the 200-freestyle (1:51.73) and 100-backstroke (58.64), respectively, while freshman Karina Wlostowska won two of her individual events, swimming 24.31 in the 50-freestyle and 58.18 in the 100-butterfly. Junior Alex O'Brien (500-freestyle, 5:01.58) and sophomore Stephanie Wei (200-backstroke, 2:04.04) also racked in points. Junior Shelby Bottoms won the 100-freestyle (53.03) and the 100-breaststroke with a career-best time of 1:05.52.
Bottoms felt that she owed her success this season to the team's training regimen and her teammates.
"I would say that has been one of my most significant factors affecting the consistency of my performances," Bottoms said. "My confidence in my ability to perform in meets has been reinforced with the experiences I have had over my time at Rice."
Rice, 4-1 in its last five meets, hopes to carry on the momentum to its final meet in Baton Rouge, La., scheduled one week from today. Pressure runs high, as the team will partake in a quadruple dual meet facing Conference USA foes Tulane University and the University of Houston along with Southeastern Conference powerhouse Louisiana State University. Rice beat both C-USA foes but fell to LSU last year.
The meet at LSU will be the Owls' last before the C-USA Championships. Last season, Rice finished third in the final conference team standings (596) behind Southern Methodist University (707) and East Carolina University (611).
Ackerman described the third-place finish as somewhat disappointing.
"Our team expectations are [now] higher," Ackerman said. "We know that we have what it takes to compete with the best, and even though we had a rough start to our season, we have taken on the challenge and have started to compete against better competition.
"It's like everyone says, 'If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best,' and we have adapted this philosophy into our schedule this year."
Head Coach Seth Huston shared the team's upcoming training schedule.
"Our training phase is what we call race preparation," Huston said. "We are doing a lot of pacing and stressing our anaerobic energy systems. It is stressful, so we have to be careful to not overtrain, as our team's health is the best it has been all year.
"Right now we are hoping our injuries and sickness are behind us."
Ackerman also agreed on the importance of the team's health.
"We had a hard time keeping a healthy team this year; hopefully we will get to have everyone back at 100 percent," Ackerman said. "If that happens, we should really be able to give SMU a run for their money and show everyone at conference what we're made of."
Bottoms believes that the whole team is looking toward conference as an opportunity to earn a major victory.
"There is definitely extra pressure on the whole team to come together and swim well in order to win," Bottoms added. "I definitely feel that sense as part of the group."
The four-day conference showdown is scheduled for Feb. 23-26 at Houston.
More from The Rice Thresher
Rice Students for Justice in Palestine declares ‘liberated zone’ on campus
As student protests erupt across the country, Rice Students for Justice in Palestine launched a “liberated zone” on Rice campus, announced a two-day series of events and started construction on an “apartheid wall.”
Jeremy Zucker is no longer a ‘sad-boy troubadour’
Jeremy Zucker’s arms, like most of his body, host a scrapbook of tattoos — a faded clementine peel, his childhood pets (Rusty and Susie), a Pinterest doodle of Sonic the Hedgehog with a bouquet of flowers. His middle finger is etched with a single tooth, hanging off a thin branch wrapping around the rest of his hand.
Jeremy Zucker headlines second-ever Moody X-Fest
Jeremy Zucker headlined Rice’s second annual Moody X-Fest in Founder’s Court on April 19. In advance of Zucker’s set, student groups like Basmati Beats, Rice Philharmonic and BASYK performed. The festival also offered complimentary merchandise and food from Dripped Birra, Cane’s and Oh my Gogi.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.