The Ohio swimming and diving team returns from its six-week break to host Division III powerhouse Denison in a dual meet Saturday.
During break, the team held a training camp in Athens and participated on club teams back at the student-athletes’ respective homes.
Coach Greg Werner said the upcoming match against the Big Red will be a good evaluator to see where the team is after its time away from collegiate competition, and he said the players and coaches are all ready to be back in the Aquatic Center.
“What we’re looking to do is get back into the swing of things in competition — learning how to compete, learning how to race again — and hopefully, we pick that up right away,” Werner said.
Ohio swam and dived well at its last meet, winning the Zippy Invitational in early December for the sixth year in a row. Ohio led the three-day tournament and finished 99 points ahead of the nearest competitor. The team used strong performances in relays and diving competitions to vault the team into first place early.
Denison recently placed third at the Miami Invitational Dec. 3. Werner said Denison is not the typical Division III program because it competes against Ohio for the same recruits. That is a reason why Werner considers playing Denison after break a good matchup for the team.
“We’re just happy that we’re going against a strong program in Denison where they are going to make us earn everything we get,” Werner said.
The month of January might be friendly for the Bobcats. They host four of their next five meets in Athens before ending their season by traveling to Xavier and Miami. Unlike last season, the Mid-American Conference championships will not be held at the Aquatic Center, meaning Ohio will need to travel to defend its conference title.
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