Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Miami University Men's Swimming and Diving


Hey!  My name is Darin Smith, and I am a senior mathematics major on the Miami Men’s Swimming & Diving Team from Bossier City, LA.  I swim distance freestyle, IM, and backstroke. 

When we started this blog, I was wondering what I would write about.  Would I focus on my previous years here at Miami?  Would I discuss the reasons I came to Oxford? Or would I simply write about my favorite memories since I have been a student-athlete here? But then, I decided to listen to my coach’s favorite adage, and that is to “always stay in the present.”  So, let me write about the team at the present time: our latest meet, our current training, and various other factoids while possibly drawing in a few details from my time here at Miami.

Last weekend, we swam the University at Buffalo, our first conference dual meet.  Coming into the meet, we knew that it would be stiff competition, and that we would need to come in with a certain focus to accomplish our goals.  In a sentence, the team swam well.  We did what we needed to do, but we also realize that we have a far way to come.  The meet got a lot of the guys excited for conference meet this year, and it was also a great opportunity for some of the younger guys to see some of the competition they will be facing over the next few years.  And this upcoming weekend, we will carry the motivation and the lessons we learned about ourselves in that meet into Columbus and Gambier as we face Ohio State and Kenyon College.

Knowing we still have room for improvement, we were back in the water Monday morning for practices, “for more fun and excitement.”  Week in and week out, the team is training hard with a certain focus and determination to improve.  This week has been fairly challenging in the water and at the weight room. Today, we did a stand-up set, which we like to use as benchmarks throughout the season. The team did very well on it, and hopefully we will be rewarded with some jumps off the 10m to celebrate.

Aside from activities at the REC, the team has been up to its usual shenanigans around Oxford: from hanging out at the swimmer houses to catching a few rounds of bowling at Oxford Lanes.  Some of the popular and frequent activities the team enjoys doing are: catching a hockey game at Goggin, playing COD/Mario Kart/Super Smash Bros./etc., and trying to find out where Scott Usher lives. 

Concluding, I can tell you that I have loved every moment that I have spent on this campus and with this team.  It’s a great group of guys, we like to have fun, but we are also focused on what we need to be doing in the water and classroom. We have a big weekend ahead of us, as we close out our Fall semester dual meet schedule, and prepare for the final practices before kids head home for Thanksgiving. 

Keep checking out the blog, as each week a new teammate will write about the weekly happenings here in Oxford, Ohio!

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