Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Swimming & Diving Hosts Western Kentucky Saturday
01/16/2003 | 12:00:00 | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 16, 2003
Carbondale, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University men's swimming and diving teams return to the pool a dual meet against Western Kentucky on Saturday, January 18 at the Student Rec Center Pool at 12 p.m.
The meet will be the first race action for SIU after a seven week layoff. The undefeated Western Kentucky men (10-0) will provide a tough challenge for the Salukis.
"The WKU men are tough and will be favored to win the meet. They swim well in the short events and our freestyle has to be good to have a chance to win. They are solid all over as a team and it should be a great meet. It looks close on paper," said Rick Walker, SIU men's head coach.
SIU will be trying to shake the rust off after the long layoff, which included training over the holidays. While Walker wants to win, that won't be the only important result of Saturday's dual meet.
"Our guys are hungry to compete and we'll see how they respond. It's not best to sit that long but we should perform well. I'm using this meet to tune the team up for the MVC meet. We want to focus on that meet, but I still hope to win Saturday," stated Walker.
The meet on Saturday will be the first of two consecutive Saturday home dual meets for SIU. The men (3-2) also host SMS on Jan. 25 before hosting the 2003 MVC Championships Feb. 20-22.
