The men’s swim team is gearing up for another difficult test when it swims against St. Louis at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The Panthers are coming off a dual meet loss to Western Illinois. The team looks to move people around and alternate in the upcoming meet.

“St. Louis is another pretty solid team,” said Eastern head coach Ray Padovan. “This is a real short week for us going into the break. We had a practice Sunday, and we’re going to miss Friday and Saturday for sure with most of the team going home, so this is a week that we need to do as much as we can work-wise. This will be a meet (for) switching a few people around and see where everyone can go do their alternate event.”

Though the Panthers are facing off against St. Louis, the team is trying to get back into better shape to prepare for the Summit League Championship down the road on Feb. 21.

Padovan said his team cannot afford to take a rest while preparing this week.

“I wouldn’t say we’re preparing for St. Louis; we’re trying to get back into a harder work schedule,” Padovan said. “We’re trying to get in as much hard work as we can. They need to get set up and think the whole season revolves around the times, and sometimes you win, but sometimes you lose. The key to doing well is doing better than you did before. Our whole season revolves around the championship at the end.”

The Billikens defeated both Panther squads twice last season. The St. Louis men won 142-95 in November last season and also won in early February 145-88.

The Eastern women’s team lost 173-70 in early November, and the Panthers still lost in late February 139-104.

Scouting report against the Billikens

The meet will look similar to the meet versus Western Illinois because it will be a challenge for Eastern this weekend. The women will be expected to do well in the medley relay by having faster times, and the men should be matched more evenly against St. Louis.

“The medley relay will be key for us on the women’s side. They dropped a lot of time from this last meet,” Padovan said. “In the men, we’ll have a good chance against St. Louis, so hopefully it will be an evenly matched meet on both sides.”

St. Louis is a team to look out for, as it did well against Western Illinois earlier this season.

The St. Louis women’s team lost 122-121. The men’s team, on the other hand, won 147-92. The team will look up to several individuals this week.

Western Illinois snapped the Billikens 61-meet win streak. The St. Louis men’s team was tabbed to finish in a tie for eighth place in the Atlantic 10 Championships. The women’s squad was picked to finish eighth.

St. Louis sophomore Anna Larson won the 3-meter diving championship at the conference championship last season.

“We had a fairly close meet with the men’s team, and they are stronger than the women this year,” Padovan said. “They are a really good solid team, and are a comparable opponent to Western. They beat the Western men’s team easily. They lost to the Western women’s team by one point. Things should be hard for us this weekend.”

The Panthers will have another opportunity at the Billikens.

Both squads swim against St. Louis in a dual meet at noon Feb. 2 at Lantz Natatorium.