Twice-champion swim team looks to improve

By Brenna Perez

LOGOS SPORTSWRITER

The University of the Incarnate Word men’s swim team isn’t resting on its laurels after winning its second Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Conference Championship in February.

The most recent championship was the first under Head Coach Reed Robelot, who wrapped up his first season at UIW after being hired last July.

Last year, UIW men ended the season in fourth place and women in last place.

This year’s competition took place at the Dixie State University Human Performance/Student Wellness Center in St. George, Utah, a facility which features a 50-meter, Olympic-sized swimming pool with deck and spectator space.

Before the event, Robelot said he expected the members of the UIW team to enter the meet relaxed, have fun and apply all the new techniques that had been personalized for them.

Robelot spent the previous two seasons as associate head coach at Miami (Ohio) University where the men’s team won back-to-back Mid-American Conference titles, while the women placed in the top three. Robelot, who was a three-time, letter-winner himself at Louisiana State University, also has a diverse background involving club swimming, collegiates at Virgina Tech in Blacksburg, Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, along with coaching swimmers who have qualified for Olympic trials.

This season, Robelot emphasized the importance of having an individualized and personalized swimming focus. Each swimmer has a different workout, some similar but never the same, he said. A big focus has been on breath control and power sessions.

A “swimmer’s snorkel” is supposed to increase the lung capacity by limiting oxygen consumption that will force the lungs to become stronger. Power sessions are “lifting sessions in the water,” Robelot said. It’s a pulley system under the water to provide resistance to the swimmer, making them increase muscle capacity and potentially become a faster swimmer. Some even provide parachutes in the water but only for shorter distances.

To be ready for the Utah event, the swimmers had to wind down and swim less to gain some rest to be prepared for the championships. The coach said he also relied on student leadership. He cited Raegen Follis, a senior from Katy, Texas, as one swimmer who has stood out and embraced a leadership role. Follis transferred to UIW from Illinois State University.

“Raegan is a great leader,” Robelot said. “(She’s) very cognizant, experienced and (has an) outstanding overachieving team mindset.”

Robelot also has to ensure the swimmers realize the importance of every swim and find new ways to keep up with trends in swimming.

Swim is half-science, half-art,” Robelot said. “There are so many factors that go into each swimmer, like personal physiology, race strategies and even their surroundings.”