Improvement is on the minds of the Panthers’ swimming teams.

The men’s and women’s swim teams travel to Indianapolis to swim at the weekend series of the House of Champions meet today. All competing teams will meet at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

The women’s team looks to add to their first place finish at the Panther Invitational and the men looks to improve their 2-4 record. The meet is held in a facility made famous by the champion players who have raced in it.

“(The meet) is at the IUPUI, which is one of the top schools in the country (for swimming), ” said Eastern head coach Ray Padovan. “National meets and Olympic trials have (raced) there, and it’s where champions have been. It’s a phenomenal facility.”

The teams that are participating in this meet include rival Western Illinois, IUPUI, and Ball State. Many of these teams have already faced Eastern’s teams before.

“We’ve lost to both IUPUI and Western before this year. We will need to step up and the whole team will need to do well and be competitive against these teams,” said sophomore Laura Nilsen. “We also need to get good times after just getting back practicing after the break.”

“Our goals are to be able to place well and swim good times against these teams because a lot of them are teams that we will face at conference,” said senior Matt Latham. “A lot of these teams are teams that we’ve beaten before, and considering a lot of teams will be there, there will be many points spread out more evenly.”

The team has not raced since their dual meet loss to Saint Louis on Nov. 15. This meet will be the last meet before swimming at the Fort Lauderdale College Swim Forum and East and West meet on Dec. 27.

“It’s kind of getting back into the competition phase. It is almost like it is the end of the first season, we start in October and end in late February, so it is an important competition for us before we get into the second half of the season,” Padovan said.

“Laird is expected to do well, but surprisingly IUPUI has good divers so he’s not expected to take first,” Latham said. “He has been practicing new dives so hopefully that will score us some more points at the meet. Diving can offer you an edge if your divers perform well.”

The women’s team will call upon its regulars to do well in this meet. Sophomore Lauren Zillmer is expected to do well in the freestyle events; Nilsen in the backstroke events, and senior Patty Young in the breaststroke events.

“Zillmer, Nilsen and Young have been most consistent for us this year,” Padovan said. “We also have several freshman who are coming along well, including Cody Showers, Matt Scaliatine, and Jayson Shine, so it is going to be interesting to see what times will (be recorded.)”

Freshman Trevor Thomas has competed in three 200-Medley Relays this season. The men’s team is currently 2-4. Robbie Wroblewski/The Daily Eastern News

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