Northwestern coach Bob Groseth wants his team to look past this weekend’s meet against Iowa.
With the conference championships just weeks away, it’s not that Groseth doesn’t want his squad to focus on Friday’s matchup against the Hawkeyes. Rather, he hopes his swimmers will approach the dual meet thinking about the Big Ten championships. Specifically, whether their performances will qualify them for the team that represents No. 17 NU in Bloomington, Ind., on Feb. 23-25.
“If we’re looking past this weekend, it’s because we’re looking at Big Tens, and that’s what we want to do,” Groseth said. “There are guys who should be looking past it because this is kind of their tryout.”
Just one year ago, the defending Big Ten and co-NCAA Coach of the Year took the Wildcats to an eighth-place finish at the NCAA championships. Now, Groseth is presented with the challenge of coaching a much younger team while infusing new talent with that of established stars like juniors Matt Grevers and Mike Alexandrov. With Big Tens and NCAAs rapidly approaching, NU must make its final adjustments in order to take on college swimming’s elite.
“I would say no, we haven’t reached the point (where we need to be), and that we’re moving in that direction and we’ll know at the Big Ten championships,” Groseth said. “I’m encouraged with the direction that we’re going in, but we still need some people to step up.”
With only two dual meets left before NU heads to the Big Ten championships, which the team hasn’t won since 1930, the Cats’ relays remain undetermined. Groseth has said he feels his team can and must place four relays in the top-eight at NCAAs if they are to contend for a top-10 finish. Despite the uncertainty surrounding who will make the championship relays, the coach said it will likely become the responsibility of his freshmen and sophomores.
As far as relay teams go, NU has its most options in the freestyles. Even the 800-meter freestyle relay, where last week a team of Grevers, freshman Eric Nilsson, sophomore Kyle Bubolz and Alexandrov came within .54 seconds of the school record, is not set, though Groseth did cite Nilsson as the favorite to take the fourth spot.
“I think the 800 relay is going to be the most competitive relay in terms of guys fighting for spots,” Groseth said, who also mentioned senior Brian Davis, sophomore Jimmy Sourbeer and freshman Adam Beckman as possibilities to join Grevers, Bubolz, and Alexandrov on the squad.
First, NU must take on an Iowa team that is winless in the Big Ten this season. While the Cats may see Big Tens as the true barometer of the season, it does not mean they disregard the dual meets.
“We take each of these meets as a mini-preparation for the Big Ten Championships,” Groseth said. “(But) we certainly arrange our lineups scoring-wise so we’re able to take control of the meet and we’re able to win it.”
Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].
