From the cheering and joking on deck, it was clear Northwestern’s home double dual meet against Carthage and Lewis was not much of a nail-biter. The Wildcats put on a show against two weaker opponents, posting two season-best times and six first-place finishes.
‘It was a pretty laid-back meet for us in terms of the atmosphere,’ coach Jarod Schroeder said. ‘But anytime you get a chance to race, you should take advantage of it, and a lot of guys really did just that.’
NU beat Division-II foe Lewis 107-87 and Division-III opponent Carthage 126-73, improving to 4-3 on the season in dual meets. The meet concluded the Cats’ nonconference slate, and it presented a rare opportunity to experiment with unconventional lineups. Most of the swimmers competed in off-events rather than their signature strokes and distances.
Schroeder said this approach was intended to alleviate the physical fatigue that comes from training for one or two events all season long.
The lineup was also designed to help the swimmers work on a third event for the Big Ten Championships in February.
‘They are Division-II and Division-III teams, and they come into our pool with the mindset that they want to take us,’ junior captain Peter Park said. ‘They did surprise us a couple of times, but mostly we surprised ourselves with some strong swims from guys in different events than usual.’
Park and sophomore Tony Mattar both posted season-best times in their off-events. Park took third in the 200-yard backstroke, and Mattar won the 200-yard butterfly. Mattar, a transfer student from Indiana, swam NU’s third-fastest time this season in his win.
The freshmen class, which comprises half the team, also delivered strong times at the meet. Varun Shivakumar, NU’s backstroke specialist, took second place in the 200-yard individual medley and third place in the 500-yard freestyle. Fellow classmate and walk-on Danny Salovesh touched two spots behind Shivakumar in the 500-yard freestyle but shaved six seconds off his season-best performance to finish sub-five minutes for the first time.
‘Danny was really impressive because he’s been training so hard all season to break five minutes, and he really took the opportunity to swim well at this meet,’ junior Sean Mathews said. ‘It’s really exciting to see how much better the freshmen have gotten, especially in training, and to see that starting to show up in meets.’
Mathews said the dual meet presented a unique challenge for the Cats because the greatest competition was trying to best their teammates and their top personal times. Carthage and Lewis, while in the top-25 of their respective divisions, do not possess the talent and depth of the Big Ten teams that NU will compete against in the next two weeks.
When NU travels to Columbus, Ohio, at the end of January, it will face Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan. Both Ohio State and Michigan are ranked in the top-12 in the country.
‘This meet was good for us because we had to treat it like any other meet, even if they weren’t the same caliber we’re used to,’ Park said. ‘When you put on that Northwestern cap, you have to remember what you are representing and swim your best no matter who you’re swimming against.’ [email protected]
