The Eastern men’s and women’s swim teams kicked off their season in October and it will come to a close Friday, when they take on Saint Louis University at Padovan Pool.

This meet will be a rematch for both of these teams after the Panthers traveled to Saint Louis on Oct. 18, when the Billikens came out on top against both the men and women with scores of 132-77 and 134-75, respectively.

Despite the fact the Panthers have already faced and lost to Saint Louis, Eastern coach Elliot McGill said the only difference for this meet, besides the addition of a few events, will be the change in location.

“Won’t be much different; just here instead of Saint Louis,” he said. “We are doing a few more events to get both teams an opportunity to swim that event one more time before our conference meets.”

Many swimmers for Eastern will be deciding which three events they want to compete in at conference. This meet will help them along in that process.

“We will have a number of swimmers in their third or fourth best event to get one more chance before conference,” McGill said. “You can swim three events at conference and we have a number of kids who are still trying to decide.”

McGill has said all season that each meet will be preparation for Eastern’s biggest meet of all – the Summit League Championships. This meet will have no difference from other meets when it comes to overall preparation.

“We are in the process of tapering down and getting ready for our conference meet in three weeks,” McGill said. “This meet, as all of our other meets, is another check point along the road towards conference.”

Saint Louis will present formidable competition that Eastern has already had the task of facing at the beginning of the season.

“Saint Louis is a very strong A-10 team and Jim [Halliburton] is one of the best coaches in the country,” McGill said.

Although this is just a “check point” for the Panthers, coach McGill still wants to see the Panthers put up good times. That being said, he will not panic if the team’s times are not up to full potential yet.

“I would like to see us put up times close to our mid-season invite times,” he said. “If we are close to those or a little faster, that is a great sign. That being said, everyone rests a little different and if we aren’t there, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

The rematch against the Billikens will be the final home meet and regular-season meet that the Panthers will be competing in.

Eastern and Saint Louis will get started at 5 p.m. Friday at Padovan Pool.

Dan Hildebrandt can be reached at 581-2812 or djhildebrandt@eiu.edu.