BOCA RATON, FL – The Carson-Newman swim team returns to action for the first time since late November when they visit Lynn University for a dual meet in the Sunshine State on Jan. 4 at 12 p.m.
The Eagles last saw official competition from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23 at the Tennessee Invitational in Knoxville where the squad saw 13 swimmers across both sides set either lifetime-best or season-best race times.
"After the UT Invitational, the focus was on schoolwork and finals," Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "We had 29 athletes make it on to the dean's list out of 43 swimmers."
Once the fall academic semester had wrapped up, the team spent the break celebrating the holidays and working on their conditioning through weight training.
"We stayed on campus and had a training camp, doing doubles in the weight room," Taylor said. "Everyone got a chance to go home for Christmas and New Year's Eve which was nice."
The team is currently ranked 15th overall on the women's side while the men are the 20th-ranked team in the nation.
Lynn University is an NCAA Division II program that has made multiple appearances at the National Championships on the women's side. The men's swim program is in its second season of existence.
"The main goal is to act like professional swimmers for a week," Taylor said. "Eat, sleep, swim and repeat, that's all they have to do."
The team has made the trip down to South Florida every year since Taylor took over as head coach in 2014.
"It's about strengthening the swim team family," Taylor said. "Hanging out together, going to the beach together, working out together and getting on the same page of our common goal of having a successful spring semester."
This event precedes two events against conference foes, Mars Hill on Jan. 11 and a tri-meet with Emmanuel and SCAD on Jan.18.
"We're really trying to pinpoint the race intensity, the higher quality work where they're going at race speed and above," Taylor said. "We've done the hard work through the fall semester and now it's about fine-tuning those things."
The event kicks off the spring semester for C-N which includes three total regular-season events. The team will then march to Charlotte, N.C. for the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships from Feb. 13 to Feb. 16.
The season then wraps up at the NCAA National Championships in Geneva, OH from Mar. 11 to Mar. 14. Carson-Newman will be looking to improve upon last year's showing which saw a program-record eight C-N swimmers attend the event.
Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman swim team all season long on cneagles.com and on all of C-N's social media platforms.