Ray Looze on In-Season Racing: “You can only go to the well so many times”

Indiana vs. Texas

After a historically fast dual meet in Austin, Ray Looze admitted that his Hoosiers got what they came for (which was top-level racing) but they have a lot to work on moving forward.

We’ve seen in-season swimming have an explosion in recent seasons, seeing times in October and early November that we didn’t used to see until conference championships in February and March. While Ray Looze values suiting up and racing in November, he does note that “you can only go to the well so many times”, indicating that his team is still very much focused on their results at the end of the season.

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HasbeenHorn
5 hours ago

Does that line about not going any faster the rest of the year go on the locker room whiteboard or the back of a T-shirt?

IU top opp
6 hours ago

Brian Benzing

Last edited 6 hours ago by IU top opp
Long Strokes
10 hours ago

They got what they came for, which was the L

This Guy
11 hours ago

So if I’m reading this statement correctly, Looze is alluding to that he thinks his team will be better prepared come Championship season. Well good news for us fans, swimming is a timed sport and we will know exactly where those chips fall in just a few short months!

I’m here for all this silly coaching squabbles (U of Cincy as well). The best part of our sport is that the scoreboard doesn’t lie so at the end of the season we can all do a nice little evaluation

Or we could look at previous years results and realize that this complaining is all pointless and already disproven over and over again……..

Cookie
20 hours ago

Ray is definitely right about this and it’s the very reason that many athletes, regardless of talent, don’t improve their high school times in college. The coaches that continue to have their swimmers suit up and rest for in season dual meets or invitationals so they look good to their athletic directors are killing the college coaching profession…

Admin
Reply to  Cookie
19 hours ago

I’m confused, because “the coaches” include “Bob Bowman” and “their swimmers” include “the NCAA Championship winning men’s team and a whole bunch of Olympic medalists in Paris.”

Ditto, but Todd DeSorbo.

The two NCAA Championship winning teams last season, and the United States’ two most successful programs at the Olympics, both swam fast a lot last season, and both suited up a lot last season.

swimgeek
Reply to  Cookie
7 hours ago

Hey, the 1980s called and wants their coaching philosophy back.
Even without new NCAA swimming survival concerns, the “swim fast once per season” mentality has always been the WORST thing about our sport in terms of athlete satisfaction and retention. In a challenging NCAA environment making 90% of the meets slow and meaningless might be fatal for college swimming.

Adam Pine
Reply to  Cookie
12 minutes ago

Name 1 college coach that does this? Name 1 that prioritizes looking good for AD’s as opposed to prioritizing long term development for their swimmers.
Traditional coaches bury their swimmers in work and only the strongest survive.
You’re telling an athlete that you’re only able to swim fast a few times a year.
As Braden Points out. De Sorbo and Bowman amongst others would suggest otherwise. Racing fast is fun, being destroyed by your coaches week in and week out because you’re “training” and developing a base isn’t. There are points where that training is beneficial but not year round.

Mikeh
21 hours ago

Bizarre statement that some of the swimmers there won’t go faster the rest of the season. Is he suggesting the Texas actually rested for this meet?

Admin
Reply to  Mikeh
20 hours ago

An Indiana swimmer dropped that in the comments after the loss so seems to be the team’s takeaway from the meet?

bobthebuilderrocks
Reply to  Braden Keith
19 hours ago

Weirdos

Weinstein-Madden-Ledecky-Gemmell
21 hours ago

The objective is to build throughout the NCAA Season and to peak at the NCAA DI Swimming & Diving Championships. This isn’t rocket science. The exception would be the athletes participating in the Short Course World Championships scheduled from 10 Dec 2024 thru 15 Dec 2024.

Eagleswim
Reply to  Weinstein-Madden-Ledecky-Gemmell
3 hours ago

this is the philosophy that drives people away from the sport. Training for one meet a year is f*ing demoralizing. I would have had so much more fun in my career if the focus had been on swimming fast all the time. And based on empirical data we’re seeing from ASU, UVA, etc, going fast all the time makes you faster at the end of the year too

Adam Pine
Reply to  Eagleswim
8 minutes ago

Agree. You tell a swimmer your value and opportunity to perform is once or twice a year. You better be ready for those few races you do twice a year. Ridiculous belief that the old guard continues to stick to. You see it in the comments, you see it in the downvotes. Inability to understand physiology and training methodology.
“I had to do 5 – 7km every workout and needed a 6 week taper, that means everyone needs to”

Can’t reason with the emotional crowd. They wouldn’t know empirical data if it landed on their lap.

This Guy
1 day ago

Somewhat related – does anyone know where Chris Guiliano might show up for the spring semester? IU makes a lot of sense being relatively close to Notre Dame. Texas on the other hand, if they were to land him that would take them into the chat about a national title. I don’t it gets them all the way there but with Bowman knowing how to add a midseason international it would create a very interesting situation. Maybe Bowman chats up donors for one semester of Guiliano? Flex those donor muscles early

What schools is he actually looking at?

Last edited 1 day ago by This Guy
Admin
Reply to  This Guy
1 day ago

There’s have been two very strong rumors going around. Both have been valid (though different), and I think right now it all comes down to who can make the logistics work. Neither is Texas. A new one has popped up in the last week and the coach said that the intent is true, but they haven’t confirmed that it was going to work.

Him being a senior is what makes this complicated. If he were a sophomore, I think we’d already know where he’s going, but academically, the system isn’t built for students to transfer 3.5 years into a degree.

This Guy
Reply to  Braden Keith
1 day ago

IU makes sense. Outside of the box, Louisville with the coaching ties and relatively close proximity could possibly be a route.

IMO
Reply to  This Guy
18 hours ago

To have IU on your actual diploma after 3.5 years at Notre Dame is a pretty big come down.

Admin
Reply to  IMO
8 hours ago

He kind of has two options:

Graduate real quick from ND
or
Go somewhere else for his last semester of eligibility and return to ND to graduate.

I wouldn’t discount the latter.

This Guy
Reply to  Braden Keith
7 hours ago

Hmm, yeah it’s not like his credits disappear from Notre Dame if he takes some meaningless classes at another school for a semester. Has that happened before?

You
Reply to  Braden Keith
22 hours ago

Cal and Indiana.

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