Daily Skiff

The men's and women's swimming and diving teams hope to earn valuable conference wins with meets at the Air Force Academy today and the University of Wyoming on Saturday.

The two road meets are the Frogs' first outside the state of Texas this season.

Head coach Richard Sybesma said the meets will provide a great opportunity for the teams to improve their positions in the Mountain West Conference standings.

"Anytime you go up to Air Force or Wyoming, they're always tough in their home pool," Sybesma said. "We're looking to win both meets that we go to, but it'll be awfully tough."

The Frogs will travel to Air Force Colorado Springs, Colo., before going on to Laramie, Wyo. The Falcons' men's and women's squads are winless in conference competition, but Sybesma said his teams can still expect a challenge.

"They're cadets at Air Force, and they have a real pride in their athletic program," he said. "We've got to be on our game to beat them."

Both Wyoming teams, by contrast, are undefeated in conference and non-conference play.

Sophomore swimmer Edgar Peyro said Wyoming has always been known as a good team.

"Last year in the conference they were pretty tough, but I think we've got a good chance of winning this time," Peyro said.

TCU's women's team is 3-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The team is coming off last Friday's win against a previously unbeaten Colorado State University squad.

Junior swimmer Stephanie Futscher said she hopes the win against CSU will give the women's team some momentum heading into the upcoming meets.

"I know that last week we raced against CSU and we beat them, and I know that CSU beat Air Force, so we're pretty confident that we'll be able to win," Futscher said.

On the men's side, the team is coming off a disappointing loss to Brigham Young University that came down to the meet's last event.

Sybesma said the loss to BYU has motivated the team.

"They were so close to BYU, and BYU's been one of the top teams in the conference," he said. "We're going to be ready for Air Force and Wyoming, that's for sure."

In other swimming and diving news, senior diver R.J. Hesselberg was named Mountain West Conference Diver of the Week on Nov. 4 for his record-setting performance against BYU. Hesselberg broke his own TCU record on the 3-meter springboard.

"It was nice getting it again," Hesselberg said. "I wasn't sure if I was going to get it last week."

Hesselberg received the same honor seven times last season.

Article Tools