By Pat Tintle
Staff Writer
While most Bonaventure students took their month-long break to relax and prepare for the coming semester, the men’s swimming and diving team was hard at work nearly every day, according to Head Coach Sean McNamee.
“The goal of the break is to push our training level up as much as we possibly can and grow together as a team,” McNamee said. “There was some difficult training and difficult circumstances, but for the most part, we achieved that.”
The team saw some key injuries and illnesses during the break that will affect the rest of the season, but McNamee is confident his team will persevere and return to action stronger than ever.
“We still need to get healthy,” McNamee said. “We still have a couple nagging injuries; certainly more than in the past.”
Other than a 10-day break period from Dec. 19 to the 29, in which the entire team took off from workouts, the Bonnies practiced three times per day, every day, including weekends.
McNamee spoke with a sense of pride when describing the effort he and his team demonstrated throughout December and early January.
“We came off a 10 day break, then flew down to Florida for a meet, and we’ve been back in the water practicing since then,” McNamee said. “I know the guys were eager to get back here.”
When describing the talent of his team, McNamee focused on the “balance” his swimmers have exhibited throughout the season.
“We’ve had pretty good balance shown to this point,” McNamee said. “Some people have stepped up nicely. Junior Matt Rochna has really been pressing hard. Senior Dave Paccapaniccia has become a major factor as somebody who we’ve been looking for a break to come, and he’s answered the call with some very good swimming to this point.”
But, like any other team, there is need for improvement for the Bonnies going forward into the championship season in late February.
“We need to overcome adversity,” McNamee said. “That is key for a quality team. Last year, we had a lot of success and ended up winning, and our goal is to repeat. Everything is not going to go smoothly, and these guys need to understand that everyone’s going to have their challenges and we are too. We need to meet those challenges up front and not let them affect us.”
The Bonnies will be staying in New York until Feb. 1 when they go up against Penn State. Before facing the Nittany Lions, the Bonnies will travel to Binghamton on Jan. 18, Buffalo on Jan. 22 and Niagara on Jan. 25.
Since the Bonnies do not have an obligated Atlantic 10 schedule, McNamee has his eye on the last week of February.
“Our main focus is championships which are in the next five weeks,” McNamee said. “All of our eggs are in one basket.”
