After Ohio defeated Youngstown State Jan. 15, coach Greg Werner had a special message to his players. He used the analogy of Tim Tebow defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2012 National Football League playoffs. His point was that everyone has the capability be dethroned once the regular season is in the past.
When the Mid-American Conference Swimming and Diving Championships begin Thursday, every team has a clean slate. The championships are much different than regular-season dual meets, as there is a different scoring system and a different number of events.
The defending MAC champions will try to heed their coach’s advice as Ohio seeks its 12th MAC title. Last year, Ohio hosted the conference championships and was in second place after the first day of competition. But Ohio collected the crown by rallying on the second and third days of the meet.
The Bobcats enter the championships with a record of 9-2. Their only MAC loss was to Miami in the last meet of the regular season, and their only other defeat came back in November against Ohio State.
Werner said that when his team was trailing against Miami, he told the Bobcats that it was the most excited he had been all year. He said that he wanted to see them challenged and to observe how they responded.
That same challenge will come at the MAC Championships.
“It’s a brand new season. You can look at it as if you’re defending, (but) really we’re not looking at it that way,” Werner said. “We’re looking at is as another opportunity.”
Though the championships are not at the Aquatic Center this year, Werner said the team considers Akron a home away from home. The team competes there at least once a year at the Zippy Invitational, which it won this year, and several swimmers are from the area.
“We’re comfortable with the facility, certainly would love to have it here at home, but there’s a level of excitement that you get going on the road that you don’t necessarily get at home,” Werner said.
He said practice is going well during the taper phase of their training, and he knows the taper is starting to take effect due to the excitement in the air.
He said the team is excited for one last chance to prove themselves against their competition.
“We’re excited to not only show everyone what we have because we’ve yet to show everyone how good we are, but to see how good everyone else is,” Werner said.
“That’s what we expect from our competition and that’s what I expect from our team.”
mk277809@ohiou.edu
UP NEXT:
2012 MAC Championships
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Oliver J. Ocasek Natatorium
Akron, Ohio
— The Bobcats are the defending MAC Champions.
— A first-place finish would give Ohio its 12th MAC title.
— The Bobcats finished the regular season 9-2.
