Three weeks removed from its last meet, the UH women’s swimming and diving team jumps back into action at 10 a.m. today, looking to end a three-meet losing streak. UH is hosting the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational this weekend at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
Head coach Mark Taylor will lead his team into this important meet, knowing the Cougars need to do well in their last competitive setting of the fall season.
The Cougars won’t compete again until they travel to Denton to take on North Texas on Jan. 22.
‘They’ve been working really hard (and) are starting to rest or taper off of their work so that their body and their muscles and their anaerobic system (are) ready to go for a big championship meet this weekend,’ Taylor said.
Senior diver Anastasia Pozdniakova is coming off two record-setting performances in the 1- and 3-meter events with scores of 354.75 and 359.95, respectively, at the UNC-Wilmington meet held Oct. 31.
‘Our No. 1 diver (Pozdniakova), this is a good chance for her,’ Taylor said. ‘It’s good for her to dive against some of these other people to see what they’re doing, see what dives they are throwing now. She can have a chance to test herself against them.’
Sophomore Kimberley Eeson also had a pair of noteworthy individual performances in North Carolina, with two wins in the freestyle events.
‘This is an opportunity for (Eeson) to race three or four schools ranked in the top 20,’ Taylor said. ‘With them being ranked so high, she’s going to have some very fast girls to race, and it gives our girls a chance to really test themselves against better competition.’
Taylor has been especially impressed with the performance of senior Jessica Shamburger, who is coming off a win in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.93 at UNC-Wilmington.
‘(Shamburger) is the tallest girl, fastest backstroke, fastest freestyle sprinter ‘hellip; the most naturally talented of all the girls on the team,’ Taylor said. ‘She is going to explode and be a star.’
Teams scheduled to compete at the Fall Invitational are Incarnate Word, Air Force, SMU, LSU, UNLV, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Tulane, Kansas and New Mexico.
‘I think we’re going to swim really fast, and our divers will dive great,’ Taylor said. ‘Our divers are going to continue to rack up points, and our swimmers are going to drop a lot of time. We are going for a peak performance.’
