Seniors on the women’s swimming & diving team will compete in their final dual-meet tonight when TCU hosts SMU at the University Recreation Center.
SMU has a winning streak of 17 meets over the Horned Frogs, which senior swimmer Lindsey Stevens said she hoped to snap tonight.
“Hopefully [today] we can end that,” Stevens said.
Head coach Richard Sybesma said the team was eager to face off against the crosstown university.
“SMU traditionally has had a very strong program, so we’re excited about racing them,” he said.
This year marks the first time TCU and SMU have competed against each other since the Horned Frogs lost 131-86 on Oct. 23, 2002.
The team is hoping to end the season on a high note before they head to the Mountain West Conference Championships Feb. 22-25.
Sybesma said he urged the swimmers to begin looking ahead to the championship even as they prepared for the SMU meet.
“Our championship meet is four weeks away, and that’s where we fine-tune and peak,” he said. “This will be our final meet before we go into the peak.”
Stevens said the teams were starting to gear up for the championship.
“We’re definitely getting ready mentally, as well as in the pool for the conference championships,” she said.
This last match up will be bittersweet for Stevens, one of six senior women on the swimming & diving team, she said.
“It’s exciting, but it’s kind of sad too,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of fun meets at this pool, and I’m definitely going to miss it.”
Fellow senior swimmer Ashley Bolin agreed.
“It’s been a really fun four years,” she said. “It’s hard to believe that…it’s going to be over.”
Bolin is the TCU record-holder for the 200-free and 400-individual medley. Both she and Stevens have earned All-Mountain West honors.
The team will enter tonight with an 8-5 dual meet record, coming off a loss to North Texas. The men’s team fell to SMU 120-178 in their final meet Thursday.
“It’s always difficult and emotional when you’ve spent four years with the [swimmers,]” Sybesma said.
Stevens said she wanted to leave the younger swimmers with a legacy of leadership as her time at TCU drew to a close.
“Hopefully all of us have done a good job as leaders so next year, the juniors will know what to do and how to lead the team and keep everyone positive and going strong,” she said.
Bolin emphasized the role swimming had played in her college career and said she hoped the younger team members had a similar experience.
“I hope they take away values that they can use the rest of their life,” she said. “I learned a lot that you can apply to swimming and apply to the rest of your life, and I hope they realize that too.”
TCU vs. SMU
What: Women’s swimming & diving
When: Tonight at 6 p.m.
Where: TCU University Recreation Center Natatorium
