By Alyssa Nehring–The Morningside swim team begins the season with the end goal of nationals in their minds. However, the location has tournament site has yet to be determined. Although this is causing some disruptions the team pushes forward as planned.
For each of the past four years Oklahoma Baptist College, located in Oklahoma City, has hosted The NAIA Men and Women’s National Swimming Championships. Oklahoma Baptist had signed a contract with the NAIA that they would continue to host the championships for several years into the future. Within the legal contract a clause allowed Oklahoma Baptist the ability to break their contract and withdraw from hosting the championships. The college was allowed only twenty-four hours after the championships to withdraw from the contract.
After last year’s championship Oklahoma Baptist decided to not only end the contract, but also their relationship with the NAIA completely. Due to this decision the location of Nationals has not yet been decided. This has put some additional stress on some members of the swim team and their families.
Head Coach Bryan Farris states that in the grand scheme of things, the unknown location only affects certain aspects of the team. “Not knowing the location doesn’t affect the way I train my team. The yards they put in the pool would be the same if nationals were still in Oklahoma City or anywhere else. The dates don’t change. However it would nice to know for planning.” He did mention that some of the swimmers are definitely anxious for the location to be disclosed.
“I would like to have a vague idea where the end result is,” says Evelyn Edge, two-time national swimmer. Whereas others swimmers are not nearly as nervous. “My training isn’t affected because there is still the goal of making it to nationals to motivate me,” says Mike Andrlik, three-time national swimmer.
Another area of concern is how the budget may be affected. Farris said, “A benefit of Morningside athletics is we have a separate budget for the trip to nationals. Other teams, however, are not as lucky.”
Knowing if the team will have to travel further than usual can put a huge strain on that budget. Travel costs can add up quickly. Parents of the swimmers will be greatly affected by the new location. “Since I don’t know how far away it might be, it’s hard to plan with my family if they will be able to make it or not if I able eligible to go.” Mike Andrlik says.
The location will hopefully be announced some time during this semester. Until that time the Mustang swimmers will keep putting in yards at the pool. The Mustangs are hopeful and looking towards a great season.
“This year we brought in ten new swimmers, the team is looking very strong,” say Coach Farris. Farris is excited to see where his team is now compared to last year. He looks forward with hope of great improvement from the Mustangs. This should be possible with 10 returning national swimmers including the new talent. Tracy Gates, junior, and Joe Schueller, sophomore, were both apart of the 2015 National Team and both have another impressive season ahead of them. Lucas Farrington and Aggie Mullen, both freshman, are hoping to join the national team this spring.
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