It's the last practice before the Ball State men's swimming and diving team leaves for the Mid-American Conference Championships, and each swimmer leaves the pool with the same advice regarding preparation.
"Get rid of all that baggage," coach Bob Thomas said as each swimmer walked out.
Focus is the key with the biggest event of the season coinciding with midterms and essays in the week leading up to Spring Break. Thomas said it's now time to transfer that focus from their studies this week to the pool.
"At this stage of the game, it's 90 percent mental," he said. "The guys that have prepared and know they worked hard and are confident they're the ones that do well."
Thomas said he doesn't expect much as a team but hopes to see strong individual performance from his upperclassmen and improvement from the younger swimmers with a goal of each swimmer topping their lifetime best times.
Some swimmers have a real shot to finish high at the MAC. Senior Casey Schroeder has posted times in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events that are near the top eight in the conference.
"This is his last go around," Thomas said. "He's been looking forward to his meet. At this point, anything is possible."
Junior Michael Weber has been swimming faster this season, posting times around the top 16 in all three of his events, than he was at conference last year, and Thomas expects three top 16 finishes from the junior swimmer.
Thomas said senior Gavin McNeeley has one of the best opportunities to post a top eight finish this year in the 100-yard breaststroke.
The combination of senior Chris Krupa and sophomore Drew Tharp could both finish in the top eight in the 200-yard butterfly after finishing the season posting the third and fourth best times in the conference.
Thomas has been impressed with the emergence of Tharp and sophomore Joe Morris who have been finishing just behind Krupa and McNeeley respectively in their events.
"Joe's been kind of a big surprise," Thomas said. "This year, he's come in committed. He's really turned around and his hard work is paying off."
McNeeley and Krupa are both expected to challenge school records at the MAC Championships.
The conference championships begin at 10 a.m. at Miami of Ohio and will last three days.
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