Swimming: Sheets looking for positives after trying start

Halfway through the swimming season, the women's team has just one victory in six meets against 10 different teams. That might normally be cause for concern for coach David Sheets. But in their recent showing at the Zippy Invite in Akron, the Dukes finished sixth out of 12 teams. And that's the result the 10th-year coach wants to focus on.


"I decided we're going to have a different approach to this year. We weren't going to have a good dual meet team, and we want to focus on invitational [meets]," Sheets said. "We swam through the dual meets, and we scheduled a lot better teams than in the past."


Rather than push for a strong "regular season," Sheets would rather use the dual meets as "dress rehearsals" for the recent invitational and, eventually, the Atlantic 10 Championships at the end of February in Buffalo.


"The kind of format that that meet has, has been one of the things that has kind of helped us," Sheets said. "In dual meets, it's about winning events. In preliminary final events, it's more about getting as many people back in the finals as possible, and that's where they're really strong."


Junior Morgan Claycomb said the team was nervous as the losses accumulated leading up to the Invitational.


"We were like, 'Wow, we haven't won a dual meet. That's a little embarrassing,'" Claycomb said. "At the invitational though, we had two days rest, and everyone swam amazing times for the season. [Sheets] kept telling us [during the season], 'Wait 'til Akron,' and now I think we're completely trusting it now."


With the men's swim team now cut, the women have had to adjust to life without half of their normal full squad. But Claycomb also said Sheets has taken the opportunity to change the team's training regimen to one better suited for just women.


"We all talk about how we've never felt so strong in our lives," Claycomb said. "We're not just lifting weights. Cross-fit has more variety. It's a lot more interesting."


Despite the dual-meet struggles, Sheets has reason to have confidence in his team after the Akron Invitational. The women defeated six teams at the Invitational, including St. Bonaventure, whom the Dukes lost to earlier this season, even though the Dukes have no diving team to compete in diving events.


In the 200-yard individual medley, the Dukes placed three swimmers in the top five, including sophomore Miriam McGeath (2:05.61 in the finals), freshman Meghan Smith (2:06.06) and senior Kirstie Shumaker (2:08.04).


The team of McGeath, Shumaker, Claycomb and junior Amanda McClelland (3:52.93) also placed third in the 400-yard medley relay. They finished behind only Ohio and Clarion, whose women's teams finished first and fifth respectively.


McGeath, Smith and Claycomb in particular have shined this year, posting the team's best time in nine of the Dukes' 14 individual events. Sheets believes the success of young swimmers like McGeath and Smith can be attributed to the leadership of the team's seniors, even if those seniors' names aren't appearing at the top of the leaderboard.


"The underclassmen have really worked at trying to be successful by following the leadership of the seniors," Sheets said. "And I think that's one of the reasons that Miriam and Megan are doing so well so far."


McGeath and Smith have persevered despite some early-season injuries. McGeath suffered a concussion earlier this season and missed some training time, while Smith is still suffering with a bulging disc in her back.


"They deserve everything they've done," Claycomb said.


Following the team's training week in Florida during winter break, the Dukes will have four meets before the A-10 championships. After the Invitational, which Sheets hopes is a turning point for his squad, the team has a clearer idea of the season's goals, according to Claycomb.


"I think we'll all be so excited for A-10's that [the upcoming meets] will be a way for us to get up and swim fast before the A-10's . We understand when Coach Sheets is saying that it's a rehearsal. It's all about swimming well at the end of the year.