After completing their most successful dual season in the past 15 years with a win against Iowa on Jan. 24, the No. 23 Wildcats (10-2) took a much-needed break from competition.
“They were getting a little fatigued,” coach Jimmy Tierney said. “They’ve done a really good job of trying to put the energy into the workouts when they’re here and also trying to take care of themselves outside of the pool so that their bodies recovers from all the work we’ve done.”
With the three-week layoff behind them, the Cats are ready to hit the water at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“We pretty much need to be at our best there,” Tierney said.
The Cats will be looking to improve upon last season’s fifth-place finish, which could be difficult in the deep Big Ten conference. Northwestern will be competing against four of the nation’s top 15 teams, including No. 13 Indiana and No. 14 Wisconsin, who handed the Cats their only two losses of the season.
“It’s pretty deep as usual,” Tierney said. “I think there’s a couple teams that have a shot at a top-10 (finish) nationally. It’s tough to make that championship heat, but that’s what we’re striving to do in every event.”
Eight NU swimmers received top-16 seeds in their events at Big Tens. Junior Kassia Shishkoff led the way with four top-12 rankings.
She is hoping to extend her season to the NCAA Championships in March with personal bests this weekend.
“I certainly think she’s capable of making NCAAs in more than a couple of events,” Tierney said. “I think she’s going to look stellar this week.”
Despite the possibilities of individual success, Shishkoff is most looking forward to the team atmosphere at the Big Ten Championships, where full squads cheer in unison.
The team atmosphere even extends to the water for NU, where relays are some of the most important races to the Cats.
“We take a lot of pride in standing up there for Northwestern and having that purple up there on the podium on those relays,” Tierney said. “In certain ways, those are more of a source of pride than the individual swims because it’s four people up there, and a lot of people contribute to the success of the relays.”
Junior Emily Wong will be a big part of NU’s relay teams at Big Tens, which start Wednesday night and run through Sunday. Wong may end up swimming in all five relay events.
“Emily’s so valuable and has such a range on freestyles that she can help on every relay,” Tierney said. “She’s got speed on her freestyle, and she’s got range from the 50 up to the 200 free. She’ll be super valuable for us.”
Wong believes the Cats will excel in relays at Big Tens because of the support the team gets from each other.
“I usually swim faster on relays because the whole team is behind me and there’s a whole lot of energy,” said Wong, who also has top-10 seeds in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles. “I like the whole team aspect of it. I think we’ll be looking really good. We’ve all rested really well, and we’re all just really excited to swim fast.”
