Idaho swimmers head to Texas for WAC Chamionships
Idaho swim and dive coach Mark Sowa doesn’t just want his team to win meets, he wants his swimmers to win at everything they do–from eating a good meal to getting enough sleep.
File photo by Nathan Romans | Argonaut
Freshman all-around swimmer Cara Jernigan prepares to compete in the 200-yard breaststroke during Idaho’s 210-90 win
against Grand Canyon Jan. 24 at the UI Swim Center. Jernigan and the Vandals compete in the WAC Championships Wednesday through Saturday in San Antonio. The Vandals finished second at the championship meet last season.
The Idaho swim and dive team will continue to try to win all the little things in life before, during and after it hits the pool this week for the WAC Championships. The conference championships begin Wednesday and end Saturday in San Antonio. The Vandals took second at WAC in 2014.
Sowa said Idaho won more events than any other team at the conference championships last season. The Vandals just didn’t have enough depth to gain important points, but Sowa said this year’s team is deeper than last year’s.
“That is a good thing, across the board,” Sowa said of his team’s depth. “There are some events that we’re significantly better in. So, I’m pretty excited about that.”
Idaho has several school record-holders on the team, like seniors Erica Anderson and Rachel Millet and junior Jamie Sterbis. But, Sowa said the depth brought by other swimmers and divers is important to Idaho’s success.
“We are not going to win based on our studs,” Sowa said. “We’re going to win based on the number of swims that we can get.”
Anderson said she agrees the depth will be important if Idaho wants to win.
“That’s what we’re telling our team now,” Anderson said. “It’s not about Rachel, it’s not about me, it’s not about Jamie. We have to perform to our best, but we need everyone’s points.”
The upperclassmen have experience and Sowa said this leaves them with an advantage. He said this group of athletes have been through a lot together, but he also said the underclassmen shouldn’t be discounted.
“We got a lot of experience, but we also have a lot of very valuable freshmen too, and that’s what makes a great team, and that’s why college athletics is so much fun,” Sowa said.
For the seniors, like Anderson, they will make their final trip to San Antonio next week as members of the Idaho swim team.
Anderson said most of them have been training in the pool for the majority of their lives, so all they remember is swimming.
“For it to be over, it hasn’t really hit me yet,” Anderson said. “It’s started to hit some other people, but I don’t think it’s really going to hit me until after WAC.”
Anderson said she wants to do a good job in the pool at the conference championships, but she also wants to relax and enjoy the moments at the same time.
“Mark (Sowa) says a lot that if we focus on trying to swim a certain time, we’ll swim differently,” Anderson said. “So, if I’m trying to get so uptight because it’s my senior year and I have one chance to go a certain time that I want to go, sometimes you’ll swim differently. I’m just going to try to relax and have fun, and then … when you do that in racing, you just go faster.”
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]