By JOHN MCGRORTY
This weekend, the Cornell men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete at the annual Ithaca College Invitational. Coming off a win against the University of Pennsylvania and a narrow loss to Princeton, the Red looks to have a strong showing against its cross-town rival.
The squad enters the weekend match coming off a series of rigorous practices, according to senior Timothy Satterthwaite. He said that he believes the Red will be fatigued as a result.
“We are going to be pretty broken down as well be coming off of a few days of brutal practices. It will be interesting to see how people swim while being so broken down,” he said.
Senior Timothy Hallowell said the meet provides some swimmers with the opportunity to compete in a broader range of events.
“The IC Invite is always a fun meet because it gives guys an opportunity to swim in events they wouldn’t normally swim and to compete in a championship atmosphere,” he said. “The team is excited … and we are ready to get back in the pool and swim fast.”
Hallowell also added that the Red sees the meet as an opportunity to prove its abilities and put up strong times that will help some swimmers qualify for the Ivy Championships.
“For some guys IC is an opportunity to make the travel team and prove themselves as crucial members on the team,” he said. “It is also an opportunity for the distance swimmers to put up strong times that will qualify them for Ivy Championships later in the season. We have always had a lot of overall success at the meet and it is always fun to see guys swim really fast.”
The IC Invitational offers the Red a less stressful non-Ivy League environment in which the squad can practice and hone their skills in a competitive setting. Additionally, the invite is valuable in preparing the Red for the Ivy League Championships later this season.
Satterthwaite said that racing through fatigue will be the Red’s biggest challenge throughout the invitational.
“Other teams there will be rested and shaved and we won’t be so it’s important to get good races out of that,” he said. “The Season so far has been stellar and going forward we just need to put our noses to the grindstone and train hard for the next 8 weeks before the end of the season.”
On the women’s side, the Red also looks to continue to develop and excel this season at the Ithaca Invite. The women also recently beat the University of Pennsylvania and missed beating Princeton by a narrow margin.
The Red looks to defeat its cross-town rival this weekend when it competes at the annual Ithaca College Invitational. (Chris Phare / Sun Staff Photographer).