The Blono Boys Swim and Dive Intercity Meet returns to Normal Community High School at 5 p.m. tonight, January 27th, featuring five area teams competing for the win.
U-High will face Normal West, Normal Community, Bloomington, and Central Catholic in multiple featured events that include the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 500 free, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, and 200 individual medley.
Normal Community is favored to win, starring brothers Wade and Nolan Pyle, who look to post times in the 50 to 200 free that will be tough to beat. U-High sophomore Lucas Layman, one of the Pioneers’ top swimmers, offered an honest assessment of his team’s prospects, hoping to place second.
Despite the tough competition, Layman feels as prepared as he can be thanks to the group’s determination and rigorous practice schedule over winter break. “We had doubles, so morning practice and night practice every day but Sunday. Then we have also been going harder in practices leading up to the meet so that we are at our best technique-wise and just physically ready.”
Head coach Michelle Meyers has been this team’s biggest motivation. Layman emphasized that Meyers pushes the team to their limits and gets the best performance out of everyone. “She is the one who gets us to do our best. She pushes us hard in practice and gets us to try our hardest. She always helps us with what we need to work on as well.”
The team is also hopeful for more support from the stands. “At dual meets, there are hardly any crowds at all,” Layman said. “But at big invites like the one we were at last weekend, there’s a big crowd, and they get into it. They yell, they clap, they whistle. It really gets the adrenaline pumping. If there were more of a crowd, it would be pretty nice.”
Between the readiness of the team and the benefit of a potentially larger local crowd, the team has the extra fuel needed as they compete.
