The Rice Invitational in Houston will be a way for the women of the TCU swim team to get some experience and confidence before their first Big 12 meet.
Head swimming and diving coach Richard Sybesma said the meet will help the team come together and support each other.
Four universities will compete in the Invitational. The teams are from Rice University, the University of Houston, the University of the Incarnate Word and TCU.
“[Each university] has a good program, [the meet] will be interesting,” Sybesma said.
The Frogs will have to race hard to win, he said.
The teams will be swimming in an outdoor pool. The Rice Aquatics Center’s pool is 50 meters long. For NCAA short course events, the pool length should be 25 meters. A bulkhead will be placed in the pool to where the swimmers will only swim a 25-meter length.
According to WeatherBug, Houston has a 30 percent chance of storms on Friday with a high of 74, and a high of 68 on Saturday with partly cloudy skies.
“Being outdoors will be unusual for our team,” Sybesma said. “We are going to be focused on winning, not the weather.”
This meet will follow the NCAA event order. The teams will swim from 50 yards to one mile, depending on the event.
Sybesma said the 400 IM and the mile will challenge the swimmers in a different way because the team does not swim those events often.
The Invitational will allow the swimming coaches to see where the athletes are in their training, Sybesma said.
The Frogs travel to Houston, Friday, Oct. 26. The Invitational starts at 4 p.m.
