Swimming and diving preview
November 14, 2012
The pool scene was calm and collected as I walked in to meet UNCW swimming and diving head coach Dave Allen for a brief talk about his expectations for the 2012-2013 swim season.
He was in a rather happy mood, and why shouldn’t he be after his men swimmers won their 11th straight conference championship last year? Over the years, Coach Allen has learned that telling his swimmers each year to compete like they are competing for the championship makes it more fun. He is pleased with how well his swimmers have stepped up in practice and is excited to see the results at the first meet.
“My swimmers are always setting goals and always improving,” Allen said. “If they meet one goal, I tell them to set another, always striving to be better keeps the individual sharper, having all my swimmers set goals helps us as a team.”
Each year the bar is continuously being raised thanks to his swimmers starting brand new. They have such great team unity; each individual is so goal-oriented that it enables them to have strong goals as a team.
Coach Allen wants to prepare his team to swim their best even in difficult situations, which is why, in August and September, he held occasional practices in the ocean.
They had to swim 5 miles pier-to-pier and inlet-to-inlet. Swimming against the current in water with jellyfish and other sea creatures gives the Seahawks more of an edge come meet time. They become fearless in the pool, and it shows.
At meets, the swimmers are in competition mode, beginning with a team meeting led by the captains on the pool deck to get fired up. They generate energy, and the crowd plays off of the energy they put forth in cheers as well as in the water.
At every meet, Coach Allen is pleased with the crowd and how supportive they are for the Seahawks.
“Teams don’t like to come here because it’s hard to swim with our fan noise as intimidating as it is,” Allen said.
We are all excited to see the Seahawk swimmers dominate the competition this year. The team’s first home meet is the Seahawk Invitational Dec. 1 and 2.
