The Week that Was: Week 5
10/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Oct. 27, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Whether it was in Tuscaloosa or Dallas, the Alabama swimming and diving team continued to crank up the intensity and volume of its training last week.
A majority of the men and women were in Tuscaloosa, getting in their yardage in the pool and their reps down in the diving end of the pool, but nine women made their way to Dallas, Texas for the SMU Invite, which featured six ranked teams this season, including the Crimson Tide at No. 25.
"We ramped up our training again this week," head coach Eric McIlquham said. "We just keep hitting it hard as we go through this particular part of the training cycle. We're increasing our working capacity each week and the kids are starting to feel a little bit of that fatigue right now, but that's ok because our focus is later down the road at our conference meet and the NCAA meet."
Location didn't matter in terms of training. For the Dallas contingent, they raced at night and trained in the morning.
"The group that was here in Tuscaloosa did a really nice job and we still kept our training going in Dallas, where we got in two pretty intense workouts while we were out there," McIlquham said.
Alabama, which went into the meet ranked behind the other five teams at No. 25 nationally, knocked off No. 20 Arizona State.
"Facing that kind of competition, it was great for our kids to get that kind of exposure," McIlquham said. "We faced Olympic champions and NCAA finalists, and it's good to see that early because we're going to see that at our conference meet and we're going to see it again during the regular season."
Alabama ace Agustina de Giovanni came away with a silver and two bronze medal finishes at the meet and posted a time in her first 400 IM of the season that ranks her in the nation's top-5. Junior diver Elizabeth Hughes posted a career-best points total on the one-meter board, taking second. She also took third off the three-meter board.
Junior Allyson Angle posted her best 200 backstroke as a collegian, a time that moved her to fifth all-time for the Tide. Sophomore Kate Shannon Gray also turned in a strong 400 IM, less than two seconds off her career best while juniors Kacey Weddle and Maggie Zblewski both turned in solid performances in the 200 freestyle.
With the whole team back in Tuscaloosa this week and the next competition - a two-meet swing through Louisiana - still two weeks away, McIlquham expects to turn up the heat in the pool as temps start to cool outside.
"Got to keep moving forward, working hard and staying focused," he said.
Players Mentioned
