With more than half of Northwestern’s individual season records belonging to the same four swimmers, it is no secret the Wildcats have been buoyed by the success of a select few. At this week’s Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio, the Cats will once again turn to their top swimmers as they look to redeem themselves after a winless conference season.
“We’ve ridden on the shoulders of four or five guys all season long,” coach Jarod Schroeder said. “My expectation is that at this meet, we’re going to rely on them even more, although hopefully a few new guys will step up.”
With seven freshmen adjusting to collegiate athletics, depth has not been NU’s strong suit this season. The team has largely relied on juniors Sean Mathews, Alex Tyler and Peter
Park and freshman Charlie Rimkus for first-place finishes. Without strong second- or third-place finishers to bolster their efforts, the Cats have been outpaced by more seasoned teams in conference competition. But at this week’s Big Ten Championships, NU may be able to bypass its depth issues. Due to the sheer volume of swimmers from all of the Big Ten teams at the meet, most squads will place only one swimmer on the leader board. The Cats’ inconsistent second- and third-place finishers will be rendered obsolete.
“We’re actually going to be way more likely to come out on top in a championship meet than in a dual meet,” Rimkus said. “It will be a nice change of pace because with all of our points coming from our top guys anyway, we’ll be in a good position to finish well.”
Still NU will find it tough to contend with powerhouse programs such as No. 6 Michigan and No. 9 Ohio State. Both teams swept the Cats by nearly 200 points in a quad meet that concluded the regular season on Jan. 30. NU will be fighting to finish as close to the top half as possible, Schroeder said.
“Generally at this meet, 75 percent of the points are scored by four teams and the rest of the 25 percent of the points are scored by everyone else,” Schroeder. “Because of our size, what we’re doing is fighting with everybody else for that 25 percent.”
The Cats’ three-week decompressing period will give the team a faster jump heading into the scramble for points. After concluding its regular season, NU decreased the volume and intensity of its workouts. Schroeder has noticed swimmers’ times are starting to peak as their bodies heal from a rigorous season of training.
“The tapering has given us the chance to work on the little things like getting off the block and giving your maximum effort to be at top speed,” Mathews said. “At the same time, we are all coming down off (the taper) and getting faster every week, which is encouraging to see heading into this week.”
Mathews will look to post a strong enough time in his specialty event, the 200-yard fly, to qualify for the NCAA tournament in March. Also looking for new qualifying times is Rimkus, who has been NU’s strongest freshman contributor of the season. Rimkus’ season-best times in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley have already given him ‘B’ qualifying times for the NCAA Championships.
Park trails Rimkus by less than one second in the 1,650-yard freestyle, as does Tyler in the 400-yard individual medley. Both Tyler and Park also lead in their own individual events-Tyler in the 200-yard individual medley and Park in the 500-yard freestyle.
“I know just by looking at them on deck, they’ve got a lot of energy right now, which is usually a good sign even if it does drive the coaches crazy,” Schroeder said. “Some of them are swimming faster in this practice setting than they have in meets, and you can tell they are excited to swim fast at Big Tens.”[email protected]
