By Ryan Clark
The BYU-Utah rivalry isn”t one just for the football field. This weekend, the two schools will take the rivalry into the pool.
The men”s and women”s swimming and diving team will compete in the annual Beehive Relays at 6 p.m. Friday in the Richards Building against the University of Utah.
“There is always a rivalry when BYU and Utah get together,” men”s head coach Tim Powers said. “Last year, we went up and beat them at their pool, so they are looking for a little payback.”
The meet is still a preseason competition, but will provide a good opportunity to preview how the team is coming along, as well as to get a sneak peek of BYU”s conference foe.
The conference coaches predicted Utah”s men”s team would finish third, according to the preseason poll.
The Cougar men have been picked to finish first this year in the Mountain West Conference, according to the same poll. BYU has won the conference championship in each year of the conference”s five-year history.
The meet will follow standard relay matchups, but will also include some unusual relays such as a 3×100 freestyle relay, 3×100 breaststroke relay and 3×100 butterfly relay.
The diving teams will also be competing tonight. However, the format will also be a little different than usual. The team will dive in pairs with the scores being added together to get a total.
Powers is expecting a lot from his team this season. This meet will be a good tune-up to help the Cougars reach the goals they have set.
“One of our goals always is to win the conference title,” Powers said. “One of the things we try to do is be sure we”re ready to go after the conference title when it comes along.”
