Ryan Evans Reflects on Illinois State Swim & Dive’s Midseason Performance

Image courtesy of Illinois State athletics

NORMAL, Ill. —Following back-to-back road losses, Head Coach Evans reflects on the successes of the Swim & Dive team this season, leading up to Saturday’s home meet versus Marquette.

This being Coach Evans’s first season with the Redbirds, he says fostering connection and building a foundation is something of the utmost importance this season.

“It’s just really important that we establish a strong foundation, so that we can use this first year as a launch pad for continued success in the future,” says Evans.

Evans attributes the successes of the team to their “tight-knit” and “family- like” dynamic.

“For me, to come into that environment was really nice,” said Evans. It is something that we want to continue to build off of.”

Even though the team has not seen an overall meet win since the season opener against Quincy, Evans has noticed individual and team performance improvement.

“We wanted to see that improvement week to week, and we saw that,” said Evans. “Coming off the Ohio meet, every swim was either a season best or lifetime best, which was huge.”

In the days leading up to the Senior Day meet on Nov. 7, Evans offered a look at what fans can expect to come this season.

“From the competition standpoint, we have our senior meet coming up against Marquette,” said Evans. Then we roll right in to midseason, which is the Hawkeye Invite in Iowa City. I view midseason meets as a dress rehearsal. It’s a great opportunity to really prepare for Missouri Valley Conference Championships in late February.”

The Redbirds are ready to make a splash and honor their seniors in their next home meet, Saturday, Nov. 7 at Horton Pool.

For all things Redbird Swim & Dive, stay tuned to WZND.com