Courtesy of CSU Athletics
After seven months of practice and multiple meets, Colorado State swim and dive is headed to the Mountain West Championships. CSU is currently projected to finish No. 8 going into the weekend after a seventh-place finish last season.
Inside the program, however, success is gauged in a different way.
“Our ultimate determination on whether it was a successful season or not is not necessarily going to be based solely on the place,” head coach Christopher Woodard said. “How many school records did we set? How many NCAA cuts did we make? Do we get an automatic qualifier this year? So I think there’s a lot of ways to determine it other than just place.”
The focus is more on trust than expectations — trust in the hours the swimmers spent in the pool and in knowing that the work has already been done, despite discomfort.
Now it’s time to for CSU to execute.
The ability to grow comes through the discomfort and the pressure faced day in and day out. But being able to be uncomfortable in that process takes time, and once you learn that, you can become unstoppable.
“I think (being uncomfortable) has been one of the biggest things I’ve learned in my diving career and being here,” senior diver Maggie Di Scipio said. “It’s OK to feel frustrated; it’s OK to think that everything around you is too much or being scared of a dive. But you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable, especially in this sport.”
Yet, Di Scipio has tried to reframe that pressure and turn it into a training tool.
“(Competitions are) a different level of pressure; it’s important for me to go in and feel like I’m almost practicing,” Di Scipio said. “I perform my best at practice because I feel like no one’s watching.”
That ability to reflect and shift pressure into performance is reflected in other athletes’ mindsets as well.
Junior Tess Whineray will enter the meet ranked third in the 100-yard backstroke and second in the 200-yard backstroke in the Mountain West region. In both events, she holds a NCAA Division I standard time and is ranked 35th nationally in the 200 for NCAA Top Times this season.
That pressure can add up, but just like Di Scipio, Whineray has found a way to rethink the way it makes her feel.
“It gives me confidence that I have performed that way in the past,” Whineray said. “I can come in this year with expectations of what I want to do. There’s more pressure (for the team), but there’s less pressure (for me) because I’ve already done these things, and I know I can do it.”
Not only are older athletes trusting their proven abilities, they’re also looking ahead to the younger athletes to continue that approach.
Multiple Rams are going to enter the conference championship ranked in the top 16 in a variety of individual events, with some Rams sitting just shy of the current rankings. For diving, this season will mark the first chance at a team event, which will be similarly scored to swimming relays.
“(It’s) an area where diving will be able to have a big impact on the score,” head diving coach Seth O’Dea said.
Going into the Mountain West Tournament, the Rams hold multiple top 12 spots in both the 1-meter and 3-meter. Sydney Ovesen — a first-year on the team — was a key factor in the Rams diving success this season. Ovesen currently ranks in the top three for the 1-meter and top 10 for the 3-meter within the conference.
And to maximize success in the pool, a lot of it must begin out of the water.
“(You have to) create an environment where you’re really excited about the (meets),” Woodard said. “Then you can come in here and do the work that you need to do to make the (meets) even more fun. You can’t carry on constantly thinking about your performances all day long. It will wear you out.”
Creating a balance of hard work and enjoyment can change the trajectory of a season, allowing teams to chase after what they want: success.
“I tell every athlete when they come in, the whole idea is you come in and you put a target on somebody else’s back,” Woodard said. “I’m going to chase, chase, chase until (one day) the target’s probably on your back — somebody’s chasing you.”
Next season the team will move into the Pac-12, adding six first-year athletes, including the highest-ranking recruit in the Woodard era, No. 26 recruit Kayda Geyer.
While the team will say goodbye to senior captain Erin Dawson — who has been a household name for CSU swim — Dawson will look to recapture her third 400 yard-IM title, which she won last season with a 4:13.48. Currently, Dawson is ranked 11th in the event.
The team is still growing and looks to set itself up for success moving forward.
The conference championship isn’t just the place for final memories; it’s a place for every individual to show their growth throughout the season.
“(My head) is a catalog through the years of great championship performances,” Woodard said. “More than most, I remember each athlete and their individual personality of how they’ve grown over four years.”
While the rankings will be recorded and scores will be finalized, the team follows a standard — one in which individual performance outranks the scores on the board. The MW conference meet is set to start Feb. 18.
“Hopefully the memory that sticks with me is yet to come,” Woodard said.
Reach Abigail Wood at sports@collegian.com or on social media @Abigaiil_Wood.
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