The Breakfast of Champions is Actually Swim Practice

At this time of year, many friends and teams opt to participate in a “Secret Santa” gift exchange. The State University of New York at Buffalo’s Women’s Swimming and Diving team don’t do this, though, because they’ve already been doing a “Secret Sister” since the beginning of the year. This fun and supportive exchange amongst teammates will continue until the MAC Championship Meet, when the identity of their “sister” is revealed. At the beginning of each year, team member draw the name of another teammate from a hat. This name becomes their year-long “project”. Before meets, they can make their “secret sister” posters, buy them small gifts, or get more creative in order to motivate them through the often weekend-long meets. “It's just a fun way to get excited for meets and it's a good way to learn new things about our teammates,” shares a senior member of the team.  In addition to this fun tradition, these athletes draw focus and motivation from each other each day at practice, even if they don’t have much time to chat during their sets. From fall until March, these ladies are focused on giving their best every day, which starts on their “rough double days” with an alarm at approximately 5:30 a.m. so they can be in the water ready to swim at 6. Classes and school work follow, and then they proceed to dry land practice for a half an hour, concluding with a two hour swim to end their physical training for the day. Despite the physical fatigue that such long days brings, the women describe their long season as “great” because it leaves them plenty of time to prepare for MAC Championships.

The work is undoubtedly difficult, but these women see results from their physical labors, describing the highlights of their season as being some of their toughest meets. After the Snowvember storm, the women arrived to their meet in Cleveland after missing a day of competition. Despite this, the women share that “the coaches did a great job of preparing [them] and staying calm,” so the team was able to give many season best times and a handful of lifetime best performances. They also attribute much of their success to the influence of their captains, who “guide them to be better in and out of the pool.”   Such quality leadership is what helped these swimmers and divers at an invitational earlier this season to defeat Akron, the reigning MAC Champions from last year. They share, “it came down to the last relay so the whole meet was close,” but the Bulls stayed strong and came out on top. The early season success has this team, and its fans, optimistic and excited. “The hardest training of the season is coming up soon,” reports one swimmer. “As long as we keep up the training we’ve been doing, we definitely have a shot at the MAC title this year.” This talented and focused group of women has a very special team this year, and everyone is excited to see what they can do with the second half of their season!

To continue following the Women’s Swimming and Diving Team in their quest for a MAC title, and to hear about our other talented teams, Like the Bulls Pride Facebook Page. Also, be sure to Follow @UB_BullsPride on both Instagram and Twitter.

Aqua Bulls Make The Pool Their Stomping Ground

If you’ve been to a UB athletics event, it’s more than likely that you have seen and heard the Men’s Swimming and Diving Team. This group of men has a ton of school spirit, and they make their presence known both in the water and on dry land. One team member discussed the team’s involvement in AFA’s and support of other teams, saying that as a “low attendance sport” they understand how helpful it can be to see other students in the crowd. They are almost always in attendance to support other teams, and beyond that, they are vocal at the events. At the Volleyball AFA, the boys wore grass skirts to honor the Hawaiian theme and then painted their chests. There was so much interest in participating that, one swimmer jokes, “we had to add a couple exclamation points at the end.” The participation in both AFA’s and community service are attributed to strong leadership. “Our captains and SAAC reps help to motivate us,” the team shared, which is so necessary when a team has the crazy schedule that Swimming and Diving does. The majority of their week day mornings are started in the icy pool water at their six a.m. practices. Later in the day, the team is back in the pool for their second practice of the day, and in between those two they have weight room sessions. Their competition season begins when they arrive for the fall semester and they compete until the MAC Competition in March. One of the athletes shared that, although they are technically “off” from March through the summer, it is “almost impossible to improve without year-long preparation.”

It’s obvious that these men have not failed to prepare year-round. Although a slow start to a meet led the Bulls to fall in the tri-team competition against both Army and Michigan State, the swimmers and divers did not adopt a defeated attitude. Instead, they came in strong at their meet against McMaster’s University, winning almost every event. The positive, confident, competitive attitude that each team member exhibited that day gives hope to all the men on the roster. They are already looking forward to MACs in the spring, with their sights set on Missouri State, who won the Conference last year. Their most recent meet in Cleveland was another dominant performance, showing the potential that these athletes have to place first come March. Although a snowstorm set them back a day, the Bulls went in, again, with their champion mindset and had numerous top ten program times and meet records. Swimming and Diving requires a lot of mental and physical strength, and it can be difficult to stay focused and motivated over such a long training season. The men of UB’s Swimming and Diving team have done a phenomenal job of keeping each other optimistic and training hard, and the results are evident in the water. With such fantastic performances in the first half of their season, it’s difficult to imagine our Aqua Bulls leaving the MAC Conference Meet without lots of gold hanging from their necks.

To stay up-to-date on the successes of the Men’s Swimming and Diving Team, and to hear all about our other athletic programs, Like the Bulls Pride page on Facebook and Follow @UB_BullsPride on Instagram.