As the H20 Frogs continue to wait for the Mountain West Conference Championships, the team is in the midst of a three-week break from official competition. This is the longest time without a meet since their 28-day hiatus from Nov. 18 through Dec. 16 last fall.Head coach Richard Sybesma said the break will be beneficial to the team.

“We have had lots of meets since school started,” Sybesma said. “But the break will do us good both mentally and physically.”

During the time off, the team will begin taper training, in which the team will gradually reduce their yardage as well as their intensity level during practice, Sybesma said.

“We were overtraining, but now we are training less and getting more and more rested,” Sybesma said. “You rest to a point at which you peak.”

The team is training both in and out of the pool in an effort to perfect the smaller details of its game.

“There is greater focus on perfection of the mental rehearsal of the races right now,” Sybesma said.

Sybesma said he was confident in how the team will perform at the conference meet.

“Our relays will be very strong at conference, and we have some individuals who will do well too,” Sybesma said.

Included on his list of swimmers who are expected to fare well are seniors Erica Tate, Alejandro Gomez, Guillermo Ramirez and Aran Bean.

During the past two seasons, Tate has been named the H20 Frogs’ most valuable swimmer and has earned recognition as the Mountain West Conference Women’s Swimmer of the Week on multiple occasions.

Though conference is 20 days away, Sybesma said he has a good feeling about what the meet will have in store for the team.

“As a coach, you have a good feel for what’s going on,” Sybesma said. “We’re going to peak at the right time.”

Before heading off to Oklahoma City, Okla., the H20 Frogs had to reduce their travel squad size to 18 swimmers per team.

“It was a very hard choice, but I had to make a decision best for the team,” Sybesma said.

His final choice was made while watching his swimmers at the North Texas dual meet on Jan. 24 and the Centenary meet on Jan. 26.

The five swimmers who were cut from the conference squad still had a final chance to perform, Sybesma said.

“The five that aren’t going to conference will have a time trial today (Wednesday) to finish out their season.