Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Three Questions with Geoff Hanson
03/29/2020 | 1:39:00 | Swimming & Diving
You had athletes competing at two different championship meets when sporting events began to cancel around the nation. How did it go down for your swimmers and divers?
We were notified that no spectators would be allowed at the CSCAA National Invitational on our drive up to Cleveland. We got there Tuesday evening and did some warm-up swims on Wednesday. We get to Thursday and the first session went on as planned. Between preliminaries and finals, they sent out an email to all of the coaches informing us the night session would be the last session of the meet. Our divers and coach Joy (Chunhua Zhao) were in Lexington at the NCAA Zones meet and were told the same thing. They had the chance to compete on the first day of sessions and that was it. I don't think it was unexpected. We saw things build up throughout the week. The Mid-American Conference basketball tournament was supposed to take place in Cleveland the same weekend and was canceled before our meet started. We could see it coming, but it was just a matter of when.Â
How has the quarantine affected the student-athletes and coaching staff?
We typically take a break after the conclusion of conferences and postseason meets. The first week or so would be similar to the normal course taken. We would normally pick up with spring workouts and offseason practices in limited hours after the break. Still, it's weird to experience this change. I've talked to coaches around the country and we've tried to figure out where we go from here. We're all attempting to communicate with our teams online and stayed as connected as we can. However, that doesn't account for no team practices and not being at the same place. Everyone is in the same boat, so it comes down to how we manage it from afar.Â
How can your team make the best of this situation?
I think we'll learn a lot about what type of team we have. We'll figure out how motivated they are coming off a great season, whether they were happy individually or not. We'll also learn how motivated they are to improve. No matter what sport at this level, everyone is working year-around. I think it'll be a test for us. Monday morning, we'll vote for next season's captains and start thinking about the future. There will still be some unknowns, but it's important to get our leadership in place and everyone on the same page for next season.Â
We were notified that no spectators would be allowed at the CSCAA National Invitational on our drive up to Cleveland. We got there Tuesday evening and did some warm-up swims on Wednesday. We get to Thursday and the first session went on as planned. Between preliminaries and finals, they sent out an email to all of the coaches informing us the night session would be the last session of the meet. Our divers and coach Joy (Chunhua Zhao) were in Lexington at the NCAA Zones meet and were told the same thing. They had the chance to compete on the first day of sessions and that was it. I don't think it was unexpected. We saw things build up throughout the week. The Mid-American Conference basketball tournament was supposed to take place in Cleveland the same weekend and was canceled before our meet started. We could see it coming, but it was just a matter of when.Â
How has the quarantine affected the student-athletes and coaching staff?
We typically take a break after the conclusion of conferences and postseason meets. The first week or so would be similar to the normal course taken. We would normally pick up with spring workouts and offseason practices in limited hours after the break. Still, it's weird to experience this change. I've talked to coaches around the country and we've tried to figure out where we go from here. We're all attempting to communicate with our teams online and stayed as connected as we can. However, that doesn't account for no team practices and not being at the same place. Everyone is in the same boat, so it comes down to how we manage it from afar.Â
How can your team make the best of this situation?
I think we'll learn a lot about what type of team we have. We'll figure out how motivated they are coming off a great season, whether they were happy individually or not. We'll also learn how motivated they are to improve. No matter what sport at this level, everyone is working year-around. I think it'll be a test for us. Monday morning, we'll vote for next season's captains and start thinking about the future. There will still be some unknowns, but it's important to get our leadership in place and everyone on the same page for next season.Â
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