University of Idaho’s swim and dive season closes with two dual meets before it competes at the Western Athletic Conference Championships in February. The season has posed many challenges for the Vandals, particularly with COVID-19 restrictions, but the team remains diligent on finishing strong.
Mark Sowa, head coach of UI swim, said the team’s enthusiasm has spiked since picking up the season after a long break.
It’s been over a month since the swim team’s last meet, which was at Northern Arizona in early December. The upcoming meets will be against Washington State University on Jan. 29, in Pullman, WA, and Jan. 30 against Dixie State, at the UI Swim Center.
“We’re really excited to race,” Sowa said. “It’s been too long. We were really pleased with our performances in November, so we’re looking forward to getting up and racing.”
The Vandals faced several barriers throughout the season because of COVID-19 restrictions. Team members had to quarantine, use separate locker rooms and stagger swim lanes, Sowa said. This contributed to a different kind of team bonding that wouldn’t have happened during a normal season, like being able to warm up together in communal spaces.
“We definitely had to work around a lot of obstacles,” freshman Ani Husaby said. “We’ve used up all of our resources to make practice as normal as possible.”
Social distancing guidelines have stopped spectators from coming in-person to meets. However, beginning in November 2020, the Vandals began livestreaming their events. The Vandals utilized Facebook Live as a streaming platform and received a strong turnout from fans. Sowa said they would continue the use of live streaming services to broadcast meets because of the accessibility for viewers.
The meets with WSU and Dixie State will be helpful to distinguish where swimmers are at in their events, especially after such a long time practicing, Sowa said.
“It’s going to be nice to race again,” Husaby said. “It’s going to be a good jumping off point to see where we are at and where we need to go with the three weeks leading into conference after it.”
Katie Hale, a swimmer for the Vandals, will be concluding her time with the team after this season. Hale reflected on her time swimming and what the future holds for her.
“My years at the University of Idaho have been nothing but a good experience,” Hale said. “It has given me so many opportunities.”
Hale and Husaby both said they are excited to finally be competing at the UI Swim Center this weekend.
After several weeks of traveling, the last home meet of the regular season will be this Saturday. The start time has yet to be announced. The WAC Championships will take place Feb. 17-20 in St. George, Utah, where the team will end their season.
“It’s definitely a super exciting time,” Hale said. “We’re all trying to get into the zone and figure out our racing and get ready as a team to compete well.”
Sierra Pesnell can be reached at [email protected]
Erin Fanning
Nice interview! Glad to see that the team won the final meet of the season.