With a new season looming, Springfield College’s men’s swimming and diving team is looking to make a splash in the NEWMAC this year, with their sights set on the championships in February.
“My expectations are always the same: that the kids progress and have fun doing it,” said head diving coach Peter Avdoulos. “We’re here to develop athletes, and the success that comes out of them is getting better and learning.”
Last season the Pride finished with a record of three and seven, placing sixth at the NEWMAC championships, where swimming and diving combined for 466.5 points.
“It’s a whole team effort,” Avdoulos said about the championships. “Trying to get them to feed off of each other and competition. It should bring out the best in them, so hopefully they rise to the occasion.”
As the teams prepare for the upcoming season, preseason practices have given the team an opportunity to build chemistry and work for the challenges that are ahead.
“We have a good and cohesive group of kids, and they have a lot of fun together,” head swimming coach Howard Hinds said. “They want to be here, and they practice hard; it shows they want to get better.”
Hinds said he had one goal in mind for the swimming team: to improve and be better than they were last season.
Seniors Dan Backlund, Charles Deaton, Gerold Gutierrez and Zavier Villanueva bring leadership to the swimming team as the Pride looks to better their placement from last winter. Meanwhile, the Pride’s diving team will lean on the experience of juniors Andrew Testa and Tyler Kongkham, while freshman Akira Newall-Vuillemot joins the group for his first collegiate season.
“We have two returning divers that are strong, so I am very much looking forward to seeing their impact this season,” Avdoulos said.
The team has been trying to build their foundations before heading into the more difficult dives. Avdoulos said the coaching staff wants to make sure that the divers are ready before introducing more challenging skills.
“They’re really working hard. I’m not going to say they’re exactly ready for high-level competition yet because it’s a long season and it’s a long process,” Avdoulos said.
The Pride opened the season with a 0-2 start after facing off against the Ithaca Bombers and the WPI Engineers.
“We won’t go into these first few meets with our full repertoire of dives that they’ll have at the end of the season,” Avdoulos said before the season started. “We may go into this meet with a certain dive list, and then the next meet we’ll add a couple more difficult dives.”
The swim and dive season is a long one, and with the NEWMAC championships in February, Hinds and Avdoulos are ready to coach their players to success for the upcoming season.
The teams are looking to hit their stride as they take on MIT on Halloween night.
(Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)