Grand Valley State University’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will encounter a three-day stretch of events this weekend when it hits the water at the Calvin Invite. The invitational consists of teams mainly throughout Michigan, and also some from Indiana, Ohio and even Texas.

“It’s a different meet than what we are normally used to,” said head coach Andy Boyce. “With the two and a half day spread, we are predicting a lot of season’s best times.”

Calvin will be using a two and a half day stretch of events, meaning that there will be more rest time, which could ultimately be both positive and negative for the Lakers.

“It’s definitely going to be mentally challenging,” said junior Danielle Vallier. “The two and a half day schedule stretches things out a bit, but overall we should see positive results from it.”

The Lakers have made minor adjustments to their practice routines in preparation for the upcoming meet, some that Boyce thinks will be crucial to the success they hope to have.

“We have cut back in our training in the past week,” Boyce said. “Getting their muscles ready for the invite is key. I think we should see a lot of fast times this weekend.”

Both men’s and women’s teams are coming off strong performances from the recent Spartan Invitational, a meet in which they saw many times drastically improve from meets in the past.

That trend is one the Lakers hope continues at Calvin.

“I think we have progressed almost every meet, especially after our meet with Michigan State,” said junior Erik Aakesson. “Our relays have been coming up strong as well; it will be great to see continued success this weekend.”

One Laker in particular that is poised to have a breakout meet is sophomore Olivia Schultz in the backstroke and freestyle.

“Olivia has been putting in a tremendous amount of work these past couple of weeks,” Vallier said. “I think she could potentially have a great meet this weekend, potentially have a few season best’ in her races.”

Although few teams from the GLIAC will be in attendance at this weekend, the Lakers believe they will have a better feel for where they are within the conference after the invite.

“We should definitely have a feeling of where we stand in the GLIAC after this weekend,” Aakesson said. “All the times are compared after every meet. It being the middle of the season, we should feel comfortable knowing our positioning within the conference.”

The Calvin Invite will start at 6 p.m. at the Venama Aquatic Center on Thursday.
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