Saturday, January 30, 2010

Final dual meet of the season

Today we made our way down to Morgantown to take on two tough squads in WVU and Virginia Tech. We knew that both program outgunned us but we wanted to make a good showing in preparation for A-10's in a few weeks. The men's team did not disappoint as Eddie LeBlanc took individual wins against Virgina Tech and WVU in the 200 Free (1:39.34) and 100 Free (45.49). Roman Becicka paced the field against WVU, winning the 1000 (9:46.30) and 400 IM (4:07.88). Along with Ed and Roman, Jim O'Hara posted some good swims in the 200 free and 100 fly as well. Although not as crisp as I would have liked, the team showed a lot of heart despite everything that lead up to this weekend. I am certain if they show this kind of desire at A-10's we will be a team to be reckoned with.

On the women's side we had some good swims by freshmen Miriam McGeath in the 200 fly (2:06.65) and 400 IM (4:33.68), junior Briana Mangis in the 200 Back (2:09.99)as well as freshmen Meghann McGoldrick in the 50 free (24.64). Although we were outswum, both teams put forth an effort I was very proud of. I am now ordering up two weeks of rest in preparation for a lights out conference meet!!

I also want to add a thanks to WVU and Virginia Tech for the support they showed our men's team. The WVU parent's made red and blue ribbons, passed them out to our parent's and wore them themselves to honor our team. Thanks Vic and Ned, you are both class acts.

See you around the pool,
Dave

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Contact Information

Alumi, family and friends of Duquesne Swimming,

I think that bombarding the administration with emails and letters has been great. All of your support for the Duquesne Swimming Family has been astonishing! However, it is now time to focus our efforts at building a proactive, workable relationship with the AD and the President. In order to begin this relationship with the hopes of coming to some kind of workable solution to our problem, I have volunteered to be the voice for everyone involved. My name is Clayton Dean, a former swimmer at Duquesne from 2003-2007.

Please, any of you that are participating in this effort, email me with proposals, ideas etc so we can really begin to formulate a strategy. I know the parents have been hard at work and I want to continue working with you in conjunction with the supporting alumni and friends of Duquesne Swimming. Together, as one, we can work towards our goal of saving Duquesne Men's Swimming

I can be reached at cdean14@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from all of you,
Clayton

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Cleveland State and Xavier

With the Florida training trip long gone, we made our way across the turnpike to face tough Cleveland State and Xavier teams. Because this was our first competition since our return, I was a little anxious to see how we would swim.

Both teams responded fairly well. Nothing great, but nothing extremely poor either. The women's team had a bit of a rough road, with eight swimmers out due to illness or other circumstances. I felt we handled it very well, dropping one to Cleveland State 96.5-134.50 but getting one from Xavier, 120-84. Miriam McGeath had a very solid day recording a fast 2:05.96 in the 200 fly and a 2:24.11 in the 200 breast.

On the men's side, the same results occured. We lost to Cleveland State (88-135), but gave them some very good races and just outswam Xavier (120-85).

We will continue to work hard to prepare ourselves for the conference championships February 17-20. This weekend we are at home taking on Pitt. Meet time is 1 PM. Hope to see you there.

See you around the pool,
Dave

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Annual Polar Bear Run



With our return to campus this past week we were all greeted with a nice covering of snow. It was a bit of a shock considering the weather in Florida but none-the-less, the team made the best of it with their annual Polar Bear Run. The run used to be called the "bubble run" until the bubble was removed for the addition of the new turf. So it has been renamed the "Polar Bear Run". The premise of the run is to jump out of the pool, head out the doors and run to the 50 yard line of the football field. Not everyone participates but everyone enjoys it regardless. I have attached the video from the run for you.

See you around the pool,
Dave

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Florida Training 2009-2010

With the new year beginning another Florida trip comes to an end. Overall it was a great trip. Although there were a few bumps (the weather stunk) in the road early on, the team performed very well once they got their bearings for long course swimming.

Our Florida trip was really a transition for us from the aerobic training we did the first semester into the second phase of our season that we categorize as anaerobic/explosive. Here we really try to focus on developing race strategies, explosiveness and quality of the practices.

Aside from the rigors of training the team did have an opportunity to enjoy some activities outside of the pool. Coach Bocci and I cooked dinner for the team one evening.....we grilled chicken (teriaki and tequila lime), hot dogs and burgers, while the men made sides and the women desserts. The ladies also got together a few times for team dinners out....boy they look pretty good all dressed up! The team also showed their Pittsburgh spirit taking in a hockey game......about 30 of us drove 30 minutes as The Penguins visited the Sunshine State to play the Florida Panthers (thanks Kim for organizing everything). Despite the loss, we had a great time and my son Ben got to attend his first hockey game.

Aside from all of the other activities, we had our traditional team dinner before we headed back. This year we tried somewhere different, ditching shooters on the inner coastal and heading downtown to Las Olas and Mangos. The food and the company was great and some of the team even took in a little shopping.

We are now back in Pittsburgh preparing ourselves for the home stretch. We open the second semester next week against Cleveland State and Xavier. From there we have our Senior Day against Pitt and then we travel to Morgantown for a double dual against WVU and Virginia Tech. I'm looking forward to some fast swimming as we head into the conference championships!

See you around the pool,
Dave