Event: Texas Invitational
Record: Aggies, 6-2
Where: Doug Russell Swimming Pool – Austin, Tex.
When: Today through Saturday, all day
Who to Watch: Heidi Kucera is primed for a big weekend as she is in her first competition since injuring her shoulder.
Head coach Barbara Jahn said the Atherton, Calif. native’s fierce competitiveness can be seen when she finishes her races.
“She’s aggressive, determined,” Jahn said. “She lays it all out on the line.”
Did you know? The Aggies are only taking 11 of their 28 swimmers to the Texas Invitational. Athletes going to the event had to meet summer training criteria as well as a GPA requirement in order to compete. Though some of the long distance swimmers surpassed both of these qualifications, their coaches felt tapering them for this meet could be detrimental to their chances at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference meet in February.
Preview: Everything is bigger in Texas.
This weekend is sure to make a splash as eight competitive teams swim head-to-head in the grueling Texas Invitational.
As much as Jahn wants to see UC Davis come away with a couple wins, she’s hoping for some improvement within the meet.
“We should have a lot of second swims,” Jahn said. “Our goal is to have a great swim in the morning and to come back and swim faster at night.”
Though up against stiff competition, Jahn believes there will be plenty of experiences to take advantage of.
“This is an all-around difficult, but high-quality meet,” Jahn said. “The competition will be good, but the girls know that they have to get the job done in the morning or they can’t come back at night.”
Because the Texas Invitational goes all weekend long and finals begin next week, Jahn said the 11 swimmers will be studying during their plane rides, in between races and at night.
“After their finals, the whole team will stay in Davis and train hard,” Jahn said. “For the first nine days of winter break, we will be having double days, working to improve our times for conference.”
– Caleigh Guoynes
