The Eastern men’s and women’s swimming program will host their second meet of the season on Saturday, as the Panthers take on Illinois-Chicago at 2 p.m. at Ray Padovan Pool.

Eastern swimming is coming off of a split decision in the season opener against Evansville, with the men coming out victorious by a score of 153-109, while the women lost 100-162.

The Flames are coming off losses on both sides to Wright State, as the men lost 122.5 -120.5, while the women lost 152-89.

Despite the loss on the Eastern women’s side, Eastern head coach Matt Boss said he was pleased with the way both squads performed.

“We swam some really good times over last weekend, on both the men’s and women’s sides, but we were just a little sloppy on a couple of fundamental things,” Bos said. “Whether our breakdowns were because of all the training we have done or because it was the first meet of the season, I really don’t know, but we have been working this week to sharp certain things up.”

Bos said this week in practice both squads have been focusing on fundamentals, which include getting started faster, and certain types of techniques.

“We’ve been working on our starts, turns and a couple technique things,” Bos said.

Going into Saturday’s swim meet, Bos is confident both Eastern squads can be successful in numerous swimming events.

“I think we will be competitive across the board on both sides,” Bos said. “This team is probably one of the most complete teams that we will face all season, so we are hoping that we just go out and are competitive in each event.”

Lauren Zillmer, a senior freestyle swimmer, said for the Eastern squads to be successful on Saturday, they will need to carry confidence into the pool.

“Everyone just needs to give a 100 percent and go out and swim with confidence,” Zillmer said.

Tim Mathieu, a junior freestyle swimmer, said on the men’s side they are focusing on maintaining a sharp mental state, as well as remaining as confident as possible.

“Coach Bos said that this might be the toughest team we swim against all season, but that’s no reason we can’t come out and swim lifetime and season-best times,” Mathieu said.

Neil Schneider can be reached at 581-7944 or jnschneider@eiu.edu.