Written by Meghan Samsvick
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It has all been for this. Six months of intense training has been for this. All those dreaded mornings of jumping in the ice cold pool at 6 am were for this. Those vigorous dry-land workouts were in preparation for this. It's all on the line now. Are you ready?
The Biola men's and women's swim team will be heading to San Antonio, Texas to compete in the 2007 NAIA National Championships which will take place at the Palo Alto Natatorium March 1-3.
The Eagles recently wrapped up regular season competition with a strong showing at the Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference Championships at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, February 7-10. Nine new school records were set during the four day competition. Many of the records that were broken had been set by the Eagles at the 2006 NAIA National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.
Looking ahead to Nationals this year, the swim team appears to be even better equipped to compete against the NAIA swimming powerhouses of Simon Fraser University (who was absent at last year's competition) and California Baptist University (the winner of both the men's and women's competition last year). Many swimmers who were a part of Biola's 2006 National team have already proven to be stronger and faster this year and will likely have better preliminary seedings at this year's competition.
Freshmen Ben Oviedo and Zachary Perkins have proved to be vital additions to the men's team this year as both have already set individual school records. Oviedo and Perkins will participate in four relays and three individual events each, which will bring in big points for the men's team.
“I'm looking forward to going out of state to compete, because I've never done that before. I'm just trying to stay mentally focused so nervousness doesn't get the best of me,” says Oviedo.
Seniors Leigh Pearce and Shannon Lawrence have performed tremendously all season long and will be heavily depended on to perform well in both relay and individual competition in San Antonio. Lawrence should place high in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle events while Pearce should be a top contender in the 100 and 200 yard butterfly events as well as the 200 yard individual medley.
“I'm excited for Nationals. It is always a thrill to see what happens. It is a combination of tons of prayer, sweat, and even for us girls, tears. The good thing about delayed gratification is that in the end, [it] is God who gets all the glory,” Lawrence said.
Junior Christina Piakak will be a top competitor in the 100 yard butterfly. At Nationals last year Piakak placed 5th in this event and will likely place high again this year, as she has already broken her own school record this season, which she set in St. Louis last year.
The Eagles are heading into their final week of training before they board a plane bound for the Lone Star State next Tuesday. Coach Eddie Shepherd is working hard to make sure he provides his swimmers with proper taper workouts so as to increase their chances of having fast swims in San Antonio. Taper workouts are not as high in yardage and contain sets that push the swimmers, but provide them with much higher intervals of rest than a normal workout would.
Shepherd continues to encourage his swimmers to stay positive as the end of a long season nears. As he says, “taper is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical.” Shepherd adds, “after such a good season, I'm looking forward to how well everyone will swim at Nationals. I'm excited!”
