By Harrison Leone
Assistant Sports Editor
The women’s swimming and diving team is making its final preparations for Atlantic 10 Championships. With only four days until the team’s travel day, a palpable sense of excitement has encompassed the swimmers.
“It’s indescribable,” senior Erica Pascarella said of the A-10s. “It’s a meet you can’t understand unless you’re there. There’s just so much passion, you get butterflies.”
Last season, the Bonnies took seventh place at A-10s. Richmond took last season’s crown, beating second-place Fordham by a score of 751-557. St. Bonaventure earned a combined team score of 249.5. This year, the conference is no less daunting, according to Coach Seth Johnson.
“The A-10 is, as always, very strong,” Johnson said. “Top-to-bottom, every team has the ability to compete in at least a few events. There’s nobody that you can look past.”
Johnson said he felt this season’s squad is in a good position with the A-10s looming.
“We’ve got a team that works hard and really gets after it,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a chance to do something special. We’re coming together at the perfect time.”
Pascarella agreed the team has put in the necessary effort over the course of the season.
“We’ve trained so hard all season, so we know that our physical ability is there,” Pascarella said. “Swimming is an 80 percent mental sport, anyway, so now it’s just a matter of getting our heads into the meet.”
St. Bonaventure will go into the meet with 16 freshman swimmers who have never experienced an A-10 Championship before. Shannon Haberman, a freshman freestyler, said she has experienced a variety of emotions in anticipation of the meet.
“I’m trying to expect the unexpected,” Haberman said. “It’s exciting, but I’ve obviously never been to an A-10 before, so at the same time it’s nerve-wracking.”
Johnson said with much of the physical training in the books, he will now focus on keeping his swimmers calm and confident for the meet.
“As a rule, swimmers are a little heady,” Johnson said. “They have a tendency to overthink things. You’ve just got to approach it like any other meet and go out and swim your race.”
Pascarella said the team has been talking about similar goals at their weekly team meeting.
“We’ve just been saying to stay confident and try not to be too nervous,” Pascarella said. “You’ve put in the work in practice, now just put it in the water.”
Johnson also said he feels the team’s depth is another strength in addition to its work ethic.
“We can move people around in our race schedules and not sacrifice anything in terms of quality,” Johnson said. “Everyone on this team is such a strong swimmer; it makes our depth a real asset.”
Along with being a well-rounded squad athletically, Haberman said the Bonnies have a tight-knit group.
“With this team, the practices and the meets are just great experiences,” Haberman said. “Everyone’s just so supportive and so enjoyable to be around.”
Johnson said he has an optimistic outlook for the A-10s.
“If we stay calm, use our emotion and excitement wisely, we can go far,” Johnson said. “We’re ready to rock-and-roll.”
