Rowan men’s swimming team is sending five swimmers to compete in the NCAA Division III Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
Jack Watson will participate in multiple events for the Profs, such as 100 backstroke and 400 free relay with teammates Paul Riter, Alex Volin and Tobias Cahnbley. Watson, Cahnbley, and Volin will also be swimming in the 800 free relay with teammate Justin Goglia.
After setting a new school record in 100 backstroke and being a part of the 800 free team that also set a new school record, Watson’s season-long practice has helped the junior swimmer’s confidence grow as the season continues.
“At this point, a lot of it is just confidence and it’s just the mental game,” Watson said. ”We have done everything physically that we can all year. It’s really just about going down there and protecting the nest”
While the team’s confidence has played an important role for the Profs this season, their chemistry is a huge reason why they made it to the NCAA Division III Championships.
“We really put a lot of work into our chemistry with the stars and we are really looking into improving on that,” Volin said.
While Watson is happy about making nationals, he is determined to improve his time from METs. In doing so, he will focus on certain parts of his game such as his turns and stroke rate. He hopes these subtle improvements can help him achieve an even better time at nationals.
“I didn’t do as well as I thought I would do at METs so hopefully come NCAAs I can go a little faster,” Watson said. “I am improving my stroke and tempo. I want to do better on my back half of my 500 at METs. I thought I didn’t close as much as I thought I did. But at the NCAAs, hopefully, I can work on it then to have the best time. I want to go with the rhythm and hopefully have a fast time.”
The NCAA Division III Championships will run from Wednesday, March 15, to Saturday, March 18. The times for these events have yet to be released.
For comments/questions about this story tweet @TheWhitSports.
