The Idaho women's swimming and diving team has been hard at work this winter, but you have to look beyond their schedule to see the results.
The Vandals have not faced head-to-head competition since the middle of November. Instead, head coach
Mark Sowa used the time to push his squad through weeks of high-volume, high-intensity training as the final segment of the season quickly approaches. Winter training saw the swimmers remain in Moscow for three weeks during the break from school, allowing the coaches to pay special attention to minor details with each student-athlete. The divers traveled north to Canada for part of the break to get reps on platform.
As Sowa explains in the video above, Idaho is incorporating more recovery philosophies into their training than ever before. The emphasis on regeneration helps combat sickness and exhaustion amid the intervals of high yardage.
All of the work leads up to a rest period just before the Western Athletic Conference Championships, Feb. 21-24. Idaho is looking to build on last season's third-place finish. Before the rest, though, comes the final phase of the dual-meet season.
The Vandals will host three more home meets before heading off to the conference championships. The first chance to catch them in action is Jan. 26, against Northern Colorado. The meet begins at 4 p.m. Idaho also hosts Oregon State (Jan. 27, 11 a.m.) and College of Idaho (Feb. 10, 11 a.m.) to wrap up the regular season.
For more on Idaho's winter training, check out the feature story that will run Jan. 25, during Inside The Vandals prior to tipoff of the men's basketball game against Northern Colorado. The show starts at 6:45 p.m. on PlutoTV Channel 242.
