Brenden McLean
Contributing Writer
The Springfield College men’s and women’s diving teams have both had very successful seasons, and this continued at the Middlebury Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 2. Coach John Taffe was very proud of his team and the way they competed.
“We only had 11 men and women swimmers attend the meet. I was extremely proud of the group that went up there,” Taffe said.
The Middlebury Invitation is for all swimmers that won’t be competing in the NEWMAC championship this upcoming weekend.
“Most were first year team members and their time drops were great.” said Taffe.
The results would show that Springfield really struggled in this meet, but only 11 swimmers competed, so the numbers for the other schools are inflated. The way to tell in an event like this is by looking at the times instead of the final results.
Springfield and every other team train all year for one meet, and that is the NEWMAC Championships.
“We train for six months to get ready for one meet. Every program around the country prepares and competes at some type of championship meet at the end of their season,” Taffe explained.
Taffe is very excited, and the swimmers should be as well. All season long Springfield has been one of the better teams, and they prove it in their meets.
The Middlebury Invitational is a bit of a training exercise, because most of the swimmers for SC who competed will play major roles on the team next year. Those who competed will hopefully be competing in the championship next year.
Taffe thinks this will be a real test for his team, and he is sure they will be ready.
“Our performance next weekend at NEWMACs will determine who goes on to Nationals and will truly show how good we are compared to other programs around New England and across the country.”