2005-06 Season Preview
By Justin LongoriaFor Alma College Sport Marketing
2005-06 Men's Swim Roster
2005-06 Men's Swim Schedule
ALMA, Mich. - The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams plan to progress on last year’s season by improving team dynamics.
Head coach Greg Baadte sent a questionnaire out to the athletes in hopes of improving the teams in all areas.
“I want to generate more excitement in the pool,” said Baadte. “It’s a long season and I want the athletes to make a conscious effort to make themselves better.”
The questionnaire is also being used to find out what learning styles can best be utilized.
Second year assistant coach Anna Grajek believes it is important to develop better team dynamics for a variety of reasons.
“Swimming is a long season and the athletes spend a lot of time with each other, so it is important that they are comfortable and patient with one another,” said Grajek. “We also wanted to learn how we can make this a positive experience for everyone.”
Enthusiasm and excitement will be the main focus of this year’s squad as they are competing in one of the toughest conferences in the nation.
“It’s not going to be easy,” said Baadte. “We’re in the second-toughest conference in the nation.”
Adding to the uphill struggle will be the absence of one of the men’s captains, junior Luke Livingston (Trenton). Livingston will miss a portion of the season as he is studying abroad in Scotland. He will not return until December.
“It hurts us, we’re losing some leadership,” said Baadte. “It will be more challenging for first-year swimmers.”
Although Livingston is studying across the pond, he will still be updated on the team via e-mail and the website at www.alma.edu/athletics.
Seniors Erik Johnson (Atlantic Mine/Houghton) and Ben McDonald (Howell) will continue their leadership roles as team captains for the Scots.
“Erik is a hard worker, he’s one of those guys you put in the pool, wind up, and let go,” said Baadte.
The women’s team returns three seniors as captains; Jackie Wilkie (Monroe), Emily Dolan (Trenton) and Rosemary Dutka (Sturgis).
“Jackie is a returning captain who is a quiet leader, Emily is an outspoken leader and Rosie busts her butt, you put these girls in the water and they go,” said Baadte.
It will be up to these captains to help the new recruits along and to create a better, more positive atmosphere both in and out of the pool.
Leadership is important, but a recurring problem that’s been plaguing the Scots is their lack of depth. This year there will be two men’s divers and three women’s divers taking to the board.
“We are in a tough conference and depth-wise we face enormous challenges,” said Baadte.
On a brighter note, the women’s team recruited 13 freshmen in the off-season, totaling the roster to 18. The men on the other hand added four recruits, bringing the total to 12 athletes.
With all the obstacles standing in the way of a championship, the men and women’s swimming and diving teams remain positive and focus on their goals.
“There is a lot of young talent on the team and we want to continue our growth and development,” said Grajek. “It is also important that we maintain a healthy team throughout the long season.”
Last year was a successful season in that 90 percent of the competitions resulted in outstanding career meets for the athletes. This year’s team plans to build off that success and improve in all of the meets, resulting in lifetime bests and a better conference finish.
Posted: Tue, October 25th, 2005 at 10:02AM
