SJU Swim and Dive places third at MIAC Championships

The St. John’s Swim and Dive team wrapped up their regular season by placing third at the MIAC Championship meet, held Feb. 11-14. Now looking ahead, a few athletes still have more in front of them. Joe Fuller, a senior sprinter in freestyle, back and breaststroke, reflected on the season and what message he told himself before the season started.

“I wanted to finish strong. It was my last season, so finishing strong was a key thing that I wanted to do. I think I did that,” Fuller said.

Fuller talked about the importance of not taking anything for granted because this was his senior season.

“I would probably say our midseason meet in Rochester [was my favorite]. It is a multi day meet, with lots of teams there. Teams from Division II and good Division III teams. It is a good time for us to get out, swim fast, making some memories swimming with the team and doing what we love best,” Fuller said.

Fuller talked about how the energy at the conference championship meet contributed to the performances of the team.

“MIAC’s this past weekend was a time where it was fun to swim and seemed like majority of people coming off taper were doing really well. I think all of that combined gave us the spirit of excitement and led us to swim our hardest and giving it our all,” Fuller said.

Junior diver Cody Watts, who competes in one-and three-meter diving, faced challenges through the season but it did not stop him from qualifying for Regionals this year.

“Definitely getting out of my head to do some harder dives. Normally I am afraid of smacking and that part holds me back a little bit,” Watts said.

An aspect of the sports season is reflecting on how your mindset changes throughout the season, and Watts saw his change from the first to the last regular season meet.

“At the first meet, I am getting more used to diving again and starting to get my harder dives. Then at MIAC championships, I was throwing all of my hard dives in and try to hit them in preparation for regions,” Watts said.

Watts also emphasized the cohesiveness of this year’s team.

“We always go to Puerto Rico for a training trip as a team. When we stay at the hotels there, we do everything together. At the beginning the season we did a team paintball match at a event center in the area. Also the swimmers always go to the Reef together,” Watts said.

Head coach Ben Gill, who is in his seventh year as head coach of the team, highlighted his athletes still competing in postseason meets.

“Brayden Slavik has a chance at Nationals. To qualify for Nationals, you need a top 16 time in the nation to qualify. He is currently sitting at third but other teams need to swim still. Also Cody Watts advanced to Regionals,” Gill said.

Slavik was named MIAC Men’s Swimmer of the Year for the second year in a row. Gill said that as a head coach, each year there always seems to be a key takeaway looking back at the whole season.

“It was a good season. We are in a transition period as a team. We have some very talented seniors, and a very young team. Those underclassmen are learning how to be a championship team again. I think our guys made huge strides in their own development and I hope that they carry that into next season,” Gill said.

At the start of each season, Gill always shares a message with his team about what is ahead this season.

“At the beginning of our season our goal was to learn, grow and get better as a team. That if we were satisfied with where we were last season, then it was going to take a lot to get back to that step,” Gill said. “It was just about taking each day as they came and trying to make yourself a little bit better. I think our guys took that to heart and I could see the improvement every day.”

Despite the MIAC Championships being the end of the season for most of the team, they are staying focused and committed to each other to support Watts as he looks forward to Regionals on Feb. 27-28, and Slavik as he prepares for Nationals, which takes place March 18-21.