The Eastern Michigan University men’s Swim and Dive team will be opening its season Thursday against Northwestern University at Jones Natatorium.
The Eagles are 1-1 against the Wildcats in the last two years.
Senior Grant Schwarz is a key swimmer to look for in the 100 breaststroke. His best time was 56.36 seconds in the Mid-American Conference championships in 2012.
“The mentality of how we approach this meet is different now,” Schwarz said.
Other key swimmers for Eastern are Mike Fisher, the defending MAC Champion in the 200 breaststroke, and freestyle swimmer Brian Moore.
“Brian is a very dependable swimmer - no matter the situation you can always count on him to pull through for the team,” Schwarz said.
EMU faces one of its toughest opponents in Northwestern. On that team is Jordan Wilimovsky, Jr, who has been named to the 2014-2015 U.S. National Swim Team and Aaron Sears who finished 35th in the Big Ten for 200m Breaststroke last year.
Schwarz said his team is ready – in large part because of Coach Peter Linn.
“[Linn] pushes us to be the best we can possibly be,” he said.
With many seniors moving on after this year, like Schwarz who is going on to pursue a Masters in Exercise Physiology, the freshmen will need to be more of a factor.
“The freshmen are building character everyday, training hard, they are becoming the heart of the team,” Schwarz said.
Some freshmen, like Logan Burton, a four-year letter winner though out high school or Hunter Cook, a three-time high school state qualifier in Ohio will be key to the team’s success moving forward.
Thursday’s meet is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
