By Alex Riley
Special Contributor to SMUMustangs.com
DALLAS – This is the standard setter, a measuring stick moment that SMU women's swimming and diving has come to value and appreciate every year since 1994.
The annual SMU Classic has served as a starting point to the collegiate swimming season for the Dallas-based program since long before a majority of its current roster was even born. Every year, this six-team event draws some of the best programs from around the country. The 2019 installment will run Friday and Saturday at the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center.
If a normal dual meet is everyone else's cup of coffee to kick start a new season, the SMU Classic is six shots of espresso with a Red Bull chaser.
"It gives us motivation. It tells us where we're at," senior Erin Trahan said. "We learn a lot from actually suiting up to race, not just taking part in a dual meet. It helps us go out into the rest of the season prepared and ready to swim fast."
And this year, the Mustangs have an opportunity to go really, really fast.
Trahan, the reigning American Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Year, headlines a group that features six returning all-conference selections. SMU garnered six total championships at the 2019 meet with Trahan winning the 50 free, 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly in the AAC finale, and fellow returner Katie Crown capturing 1-meter diving honors.
With only three seniors, SMU will certainly give the 15 underclassmen, including nine freshmen, a chance to make an impact early on. That mix of talented veterans and eager newcomers has already made for a different feel at practice.
"Right now, we're very excited about our incoming freshmen," Crown said. "Of course our returners are back and better than ever, but our freshmen are here and finally training with our coaches and it's just been exciting to see everybody just working as a team together now."
The first test for the Mustangs will be this weekend's SMU Classic. The six-team field features four programs that finished among the top 35 at the NCAA Championship last year, including fourth-place Louisville and 12th-place Auburn. Each of the six programs at this weekend's meet sent multiple qualifiers to the NCAA finals last year, with many returning to the pool this fall.
Regarded as one of the fastest regular season events in the country, SMU coach Steve Collins sees the annual meet as a rite of passage that gets all of his swimmers and divers ready for the rigors they're about to face. One thing is certain, when everyone steps onto the starting platform, the Mustangs will be ready.
"It's a great motivator and it's great for us to motivate our team to be ready for that level of competition," Collins said. "You'll see some of the swimmers who will be competing in the finals of the NCAAs competing in this competition. It kind of gives them a lot of confidence knowing if they've swam against them in this meet, when they do make it to the NCAA or conference championships later on in the year, they've had that type of experience to get ready. It is unusual, but it's worked out fantastic for us in the past."
The Classic opens Friday at 6:30 p.m. and concludes Saturday at 11 a.m.
