Men’s and women’s swimming have diligently built one of the strongest programs in Colorado Mesa University’s (CMU) athletic department.
Coached by third-year West Point graduate and former Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Coach of the year Mickey Wender, the swim team has quietly morphed into one of the best in the state.
“[Wender] is the most competitive human I have ever met. He just wants to win. His energy and outlook on swimming generates the same for us and it pushes us everyday. That’s our goal; we want to win,” junior backstroker Davey Brown said.
The success of the Swim and Dive program results from the combined support of the athletes, coaches, facilities and institution. The swim team is coming off a three-year streak as RMAC champions, and they don’t plan on letting that break anytime soon.
“It’s clear [the faculty] want us to be successful and they’ve provided the resources that we need to win. This pool is one of the finest in the nation; top 10 in the country. It’s really a beautiful place to come to work every day. I think we have a very ambitious group of athletes that want to see how good they can be, and want to take this program to the next level,” Wender said.
Coaching both the men’s and women’s teams, Wender has his hands full. The team practices together on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and then split on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Swimmers also attend weight room sessions and complete a series of swimming related stretches fittingly coined “swim yoga”.
Their goal is to eventually be the best program in the state. Wender emphasizes swimming hard and growing better with every opportunity, win or lose. The program put themselves in the spotlight in their first meet of the season, combining for 45 top-five finishes.
Most impressively that day, the men’s team beat long-time Division One foe Air Force Academy (AFA) for the first time in 21 all-time meets. The win marked CMU’s Swim and Dive team’s second ever win over a Division One opponent.
“It felt great, honestly we had the best energy on the pullback we have had in maybe two years. I think that energy helped a lot in beating Air Force for the first time ever,” senior backstroker and freestyler Lane Austin said.
Wender and the team embrace tough Division One competition like AFA and Colorado State University. Beating AFA confirmed that the team is up there with the best of the best in Colorado.
The men and women look to build on their momentum going into the rest of the season. They will be facing off against RMAC competition and others on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 against Western Colorado University and Colorado School of Mines here at the El Pomar Natatorium.
Other important upcoming dates to look forward to for the swim team include their A3 Invitational starting on Nov. 17 in El Pomar Natatorium in Grand Junction, Colo. Their dual season begins in January and goes through the RMAC Championships in February and their season concludes in March with Nationals.
