LITTLE ROCK - The Little Rock swimming and diving schedule has finally dropped, and the Trojans are ready for their first year of competition under new head coach Nathan Townsend as well as second-year diving coach Chris Pape and his up-and-coming squad.
View the full schedule here.
"I'm super excited for this team's potential this year," said Coach Townsend. "It's a little different taking over a team that I did not recruit but from the first couple days of training, I know we are primed to do some big things this year."
"The big focus this year is the idea of leveling up and being a little better than you were yesterday, last week, last month, and last year," he explained, going on to detail the themes planned for each month of the long season. "I'm viewing our first month or so as 'Preptember'Â then October will be 'Rocktober'Â and November will be 'Slowvember'Â until we go fast at our mid-season invite. I'm also looking forward to our training trip in December where we will have the opportunity to train outside for a week and do some really tough training."
"There is a lot of purposeful thought being put into the weight room, dryland, and swimming & diving and how they all combine together to make a championship level training here at Little Rock," Coach Townsend added. "We look forward to racing hard all season long and doing something special at MVCs."Â
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Home Meets
Little Rock will kick off the year with the annual All-Arkansas Invite on Saturday, Sept. 16. For the third year in a row, the Trojans will host several in-state colleges as well as their respective men's teams with some friendly Natural State competition to open the season.
The fall home dual slate begins with a head-to-head Division I in-state battle, with the Trojans taking on the Razorbacks on Oct. 13. It won't be the only time that Little Rock duals their SEC rivals - the Trojans will head northwest to Fayetteville in the winter for a Jan. 13 dual.
The first of two home tri-meets will take place on Nov. 4, where Little Rock will face both St. Louis and Henderson State. It will be their final tune-up before the Trojans hit the road for their mid-season invitational later in the month.
The final home meet of the season, and senior day for the large group of graduating student-athletes, will take place on Jan. 27. This tri-meet features SEC team Vanderbilt as well as North Texas, a school Little Rock duals frequently, for a tough test to close the regular season.
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Away Meets
The Trojans won't spend too much time on the road this season. Aside from the second Arkansas dual, there are only two other events, both in the state of Florida. The first is a tri-meet at North Florida with Tulane on Oct. 6 for a fun prep before the team's mid-season meet, while the second will be a dual against Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 20. Notably, the latter falls in the middle of Little Rock's training trip, giving the Trojans a good opportunity to race tired.
Racing rested on the road is much more appealing. This year, Little Rock will do that twice, between its mid-season invite and the conference championships. However, the Trojans will forgo the usual Kansas Classic in favor of the House of Champions invitational, an annual meet hosted by IUPUI in the renowned IU Natatorium. The three-day event runs from Nov. 16-18 and features all the championship events against several competitive mid-major Division I schools.
The Missouri Valley Conference Championships will be held in Evansville, Indiana this year at the two-year-old Deaconess Aquatic Center and Lilly King Competition Pool. The highlight of the season, the Trojans will fully rest and taper for a four-day conference showdown from Feb. 21 through 24.
For the latest information on Little Rock Swimming and Diving, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockSwim on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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