The Lehigh Men’s Swim and Dive Team finished the regular season with a record of 2-5 on Feb. 5, before competing in the Patriot League Championships beginning on Wednesday.
Although coach Robert Herb said he is hopeful for what’s to come, the team encountered challenges entering the season as many swimmers did not have access to a pool in the offseason due to COVID-19, freshman Connor Goodyear said.
“You had some kids who came back this season that were in shape and ready to get going. Then you had other kids who hadn’t swam in close to a year,” Goodyear said.
Patriot League Second-Team honoree senior Glenn Lasco missed a week and a half of the season due to COVID-19. He said the season had a lot of ups and downs.
“We’re super tired. We’ve been tired since day one… as soon as we got back into the pool in August we’ve been beat up since,” Lasco said.
Lasco further said he is excited to enter a meet where all the teams can compete against one another. He said that missing last season took a “huge hit” to the team with regard to their competitive edge.
Goodyear said only the top 16 swimmers in the league will final. Although this is his first season on the team, Goodyear said his goal is to final in his events which are the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 200 fly.
Lasco’s event at the Championships is freestyle.
“The goal is always to try to break a record,” he said. “I feel the best I have ever felt.”
Members of the Lehigh swimming and diving team take off during practice. The team will compete in the Patriot League Championships on Feb. 16. (Courtesy of Brent Hugo/Lehigh Sports)
Herb said the team has been keeping their heads down and putting in the work prior to the Championships.
“Not only are hopes high, but indicators show, our times in dual meets currently show that we are faster than we’ve ever been,” Herb said.
Freshman Gavin Newcamp agreed. He said that he feels his team is prepared to enter the meet.
As freshmen on the team, Goodyear and Newcamp agreed the team atmosphere is supportive. Goodyear said the upperclassmen helped to show them the ropes of the system coming in this year.
In his last swimming season at Lehigh, Lasco reflected on his proudest moment of the season, taking place midseason after a meet had gone poorly.
“I could just tell that the morale was so low around the pool and I just hated that feeling,” he said. “The doubt was in me and I didn’t like that either.”
Lasco said in order to see progress beyond the physical sense, feeling connected to the team mentally is just as important. He attributes his ability to get through the past two years to the support of his teammates.
“The people that you surround yourself with and really trust that they’re gonna be there for you and support you and push you through all of this,” Lasco said.
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