The journey began in October when the season was just kicking off. Now February, the goal is still the same for the Grand Valley State University men’s swimming and diving team: defend its GLIAC title.

After a regular season marked by first-place finishes at the Calvin (College) Invitational and the Doug Coers Invite at Ball State University, several shattered pool and school records, and an undefeated record against conference foes, winning a second straight conference championship is just the next step.

All the roads have led to Jenison High School and the GLIAC conference championship, where the GVSU men’s swim and dive team will put all their practice to work. The meet started yesterday and will go through Saturday evening.

“We have been working the whole year for this and this is our last hurrah to try to get as many people to the national championships,” said GVSU head coach Andy Boyce. “We are hoping for a conference championship.”

Even though the Lakers handled all GLIAC competition in the regular season, they are not taking any team lightly.

“Ashland University and Wayne State University are definitely comparable foes,” Boyce said. “We finished up the season strong and we have been cutting back on the training and resting up. We are going to need to be strong across the board. The more people we can qualify in the top eight from preliminaries, the better.”

Senior swimmer Justin Pattermann believes the team matches up solidly even with some of the opposition’s strengths.

“I think we will fare really well. We are going to have some tough competition, but with our depth on the team, I think we will be able to hold them off,” Pattermann said. “The breaststroke events are going to be really big for Ashland University. Also, Wayne State University has really good sprinters, so the 50 and 100 freestyle are going to be really big for them.”

While the season has progressed, different individuals have strengthened their performance in the pool. Senior swimmer and team captain Jordan Schrotenboer has taken notice and thinks it will be an overall team effort.

“I’ve been swimming pretty well lately, and then junior swimmer Aaron Beebe, of course, is doing really well like he typically does,” said Schrotenboer. “I actually can’t really think of anyone who is not stepping up and doing really well. Freshman Michael Griffith has really stepped up the past couple meets and has been really fast this semester. I’m pretty excited to see what he does.”

As the swimmers have tapered their workouts to rest and get completely healthy, the divers have slowly progressed into more difficult dives. However, through the training and progression, Schrotenboer and the other captains have emphasized a couple of keys for the team.

“One of the big things that we captains have been trying to stress this year is confidence and trusting your training,” Schrotenboer said. “It really helps the guys go out and keep focus. It seems that everyone has shown that confidence this year.”

Boyce, meanwhile, feels the team is as prepared as they can be.

“It will be exciting,” he said. “They have worked extremely hard to this point and all their work will pay off here in the end. The intensity has definitely picked up (in practice) and they are ready and excited for the conference championship.”

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