The Colorado Buffaloes swim and dive team opened up with an intrasquad meet to kick off the upcoming season at the CU student rec center on Saturday.
Head swim coach Kimberly Goodell has been with the Buffs for the past four years. When asked about the team’s history, she spoke on the facts of always being a competitive team, but due to the faster nationals qualifying times recently, the team has seen a decrease in qualifiers going from 75% to 35%.
“My goal is to keep those individuals focused,” Goodell said.
Being the first meet of the season, there's a lot to get used to for the incoming swimmers, including the pool time, and space available for the roster of almost 70 swimmers.
“Right now, we have about 10 swimmers per lane, limiting what we can do and what I can give feedback on,” Goodell said.
With club sports, the connection between students is what keeps it fun and competitive. The club swim team has a board of nine officers, which is a “combo effort between captains and officers” keeping the team happy and healthy outside of the pool. Holding team dinners, dryland workouts and poster making, among other non-pool activities, are the keys to keeping this team successful.
Throughout the meet, the energy and enthusiasm that each teammate had for each other was easy to see, whether it was a relay, using flippers for extra boost to catch a teammate or being tenths of a second off a nationals cut, this team is definitely one to watch out for this season.
The Buffaloes stop at no cost when it comes to providing the best for their athletes. Head dive coach Marin Zamora was a part of the Olympic team himself, but wouldn't call himself a “coach.”
“I love it, I think of it as more than coaching, it's complementing the lives, future, personalities, character and background,” Zamora said.
It’s not hard to see the passion in his coaching while he helps athletes fix the little things and gives feedback on how to make it better, all while smiling. One big mental hurdle he helps the athletes with is the initial fear of diving and getting in the water.
“Fear in diving is normal, it happens, so I work with the divers in ways that minimize all possibilities of being too afraid and errors,” Zamora said.
The Buffs' next swim meet will be held on Sept. 28 at the Broomfield Community Center.
Cover photo by Siri Lincke/Sko Buffs Sports
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