Poolside with Assistant Coach Chad Onken
10/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
Oct. 15, 2002
This is the first in a series of entries that will follow throughout the season and provide an inside look into the NC State swimming and diving team as it works to achieve its goal of contending for a conference championship and returning to the NCAA Championships. This week, assistant coach Chad Onken shares what the team has done to prepare for its first regular season meet.
It's so hard to believe that October is here and the competitive season is about to get underway. Things have been going great here in Wolfpack-land. It's such an exciting time to be a Wolfpacker. The football team has steadily moved up the polls and solidified a top 10 ranking, the basketball team is a preseason top 25 selection in some polls, the women's soccer team is ranked 19th nationally after pulling off an upset against UNC, and of course...the swimming and diving team is set to have a very exciting year and anticipates moving up the ACC and NCAA standings.
This month has been much like August and September: training, training and more training. We have been knee deep into our training schedule for quite some time now, combining a good mix of dryland and weight workouts with some intense training in the pool.
October 5th was a long awaited day for Wolfpack swimming fans. Spectators on hand for the Red and White Intrasquad Meet got a glimpse of the team's newcomers. Perhaps one of the most talented classes of recruits to ever step foot on campus, joined the returners to compete meet. It was a great time and the team produced some very fast swims, but overall, the White team prevailed. There were quite a few impressive swims as Rob Yeager, Cristian Rojas, Scott Dettloff, Jack Deal, and Chris Nixon all stepped up and performed well for the men. The ladies were led by Kendall Smith, Rachel Bumgardner, Caroline Curran, Karen Burbella, and AnnaMaria Gazda. Erin Bailey and TJ Ferguson led one of the top diving squads in the conference, too.
We finished our first "training camp" during our Fall Break. We increased our intensity level and yardage, and had some very impressive workouts. The Wolfpack will have to put the past three months of hard work to use as we begin our regular season schedule this week with some pretty important meets. October 17th brings ACC rival Duke into town, along with the University of Richmond and Gardner-Webb women's teams. The 18th we leave for College Park to take on the Maryland Terrapins on the following day. After a few more days of hard work, it's off to Greenville to face the Pirates of East Carolina. These three early season meets will provide a good barometer for the coaching staff to see what this team is truly made of.
You are invited to take part in our season opener on Thursday at 5:00 p.m., and join us as we work our way into the ACC title hunt in 2003.
Watch out for the Pack this year!