INDIANAPOLIS - With a conference championship win in their sights this season, the IUPUI swim and dive team has aspirations to add to the success they have been building in recent years. With the preseason coaches poll ranking the men's and women's teams number one and two, respectively, expectations are there for the Jaguars to be "the team" at the end of the season. According to head coach Damion Dennis, being "the team" means more than just excelling in the pool and on the deck.
 
"When you think of IUPUI Athletics, we want our program to be the program that is on top of everybody's minds, on top of everybody's list," Dennis said. "We want to be that way because we're great people, we have a great culture, we're active in the community, competing in the classroom, competing in the pool, and we really want to be the embodiment representation of what IUPUI and the Jaguars are all about."
 
Creating this kind of culture begins with bringing in student-athletes that will buy in. The Jags have brought in a lot of them — 22 freshmen joined the roster this offseason. Nathan Rariden, Youssef Magdy, Dakota Kinder, David Niemiec, Turner Long, Evan Hernandez, Samantha Lee, Victoria Surdyka, Emily Hoekstra, and Kate Larson are just a few names who have already shown promise. After seeing them showcase their competitiveness and unity at the Butler Double Duals on September 24, Dennis is excited to see what the newcomers can bring to the team.
 
"It's gonna be a wild ride for us, that's for sure," Dennis said.
 
Another newcomer on the team, who is not a freshman, is graduate student Hanna Barton. After four years at the University of South Carolina that included multiple injuries, Barton sought out an opportunity to further her education and finish out her swimming career on a high note. Choosing IUPUI was an easy choice after the welcome she received from her new coaches and teammates.
 
"It felt like somewhere that I was going to feel very comfortable on deck and somewhere that it was going to be really easy for me to be motivated because there were people around me that were really motivated," Barton said.
 
On the returning side of the team, the Jags are welcoming back a unit that was competing for top spots within the conference and the nation. 10 sophomores, 12 juniors, 7 seniors, and 3 fifth-year/graduate students round out the rest of the roster. Several returning swimmers and divers who had success a season ago include Grayson Tidwell, Isaac Wilson, Sebastian Otero, Emmaleigh Zietlow, Lillian Brandt, Logan Kelly, Spencer Jyawook, Luke Dibley, Adam Schmehl, Nick Cavanah, Sadie Smith, and Kevin Burke.
 
With talent all throughout the roster, the pathway to success for this team will be determined by the amount of work and dedication they put in, inside and outside of the pool. Junior Adam Schmehl knows in order for this team to become what he knows they can be, it will require extra work.
 
"I was always told that champions do extra," Schmehl said. "That to me is not forgetting the little things, making sure nothing falls between the cracks. Just making sure that we get what we need to get done. And we try to give our best effort because even if we can't be perfect at what we're doing, we can at least fall into the realm of excellence."
 
Early into the season, Dennis has already seen his team buying into what he has been preaching and what areas they still have to improve on.
 
"We've gotten a lot better already," Dennis said. "We raised the bar to unparalleled heights last year. If we can find a way to get over that bar, the rest will take care of itself."
 
The IUPUI men's and women's swim and dive teams host the University of Southern Indiana tomorrow, Saturday, October 7 for their home opener in the IU Natatorium at 2:00 PM.