Video: Jordan Taylor Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman swim team will head to the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships in Fort Mill, South Carolina from Feb. 18 to Feb. 21 looking to continue their national presence and prove their place among conference powerhouses. Head coach Jordan Taylor and his staff are hoping the team takes this opportunity to springboard themselves to the NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championships in March.
C-N, ranked 8th on both the men's and women's sides, has not seen competition in an official event in just under two weeks when they hosted Senior Day against Lees-McRae on Feb. 6 inside the MSAC.
"This weekend will be a special occasion for the whole team and our staff as it has been a moment we've been prepping for it all season. We've been lucky to have a mostly normal season with only one meet rescheduled," Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "I have told this team all year to only control what is in front of us because we never know what can happen the next day. So, we're happy to be able to compete and have this stage but we know it is something we won't take for granted."
The event will boast preliminary rounds in the morning which will serve to extract qualifiers for the evening on all four days.
Swimmers have to finish in the top-16 in their event to make it to either the 'A' or 'B' final events which consist of eight swimmers each. The 'A' final contains the top-eight and the 'B' final is raced amongst the bottom-eight. Swimmers can only score points for their team if they make it into one of these two groups in the final rounds.
Finishing within the top-6 in the 'A' final is rewarded with an All-Conference honor, signified with a medal. When it comes to relay races, teams must finish within the top-three in the finals to be named All-Conference which is also represented by a medal.
"Conference is always something we strive to get to and have our best effort when we arrive. Sometimes it is nice for our team to see where they rank among the best, but to me, they are the best and can easily win this event yearly," Taylor said. "I'll tell the team the same message again before our team dinner once we arrive in Fort Mill, but I'm extremely proud of all this squad has done. I expect the atmosphere to be loud and exciting which will make our events enticing and show how intense this conference can truly be."
In a season like no other, C-N has been preparing its race acumen for Conference and National Championships all season long. They know what they are capable of and are chomping at the bit to prove themselves against national powerhouses like Wingate and Queens. Taylor and his staff know the depth of this years team and know anyone from freshman to senior can be a major difference.
As it has been preached all season long, Taylor wants his team and staff to be confident and ready to go any day but knows things can change in the blink of an eye, so taking advantage of all opportunities is what will benefit C-N Swimming in the long run.
Last year, the team finished in third-place on both sides and saw multiple swimmers qualify for All-Conference laurels over the four days. Those performances launched a program-record nine athletes to the NCAA National Championships in Geneva, Ohio prior to the season ending.
Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman swim team all across C-N's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.
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