John Patnott has not discussed times at practice with his Hope College men’s swimming & diving team leading into this week’s 2016 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships.
He wants the Flying Dutchmen focused on racing.
“We haven’t been real rested this year,” Patnott said. “We have people like Duncan MacLean. When he rests, his times go nuts. He had a 20-second dropoff in the 500-yard freestyle going into the Wheaton Invitational (in December).
“I want them racing, quit worrying about times.”
The 2016 MIAA Swimming & Diving Championships begin Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Calvin. The four-day meet features 10 a.m. preliminary sessions and 5:30 p.m. finals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Calvin is an overwhelming favorite to repeat as league champion, Patnott said. The Flying Dutchmen are capable of challenging Kalamazoo and Albion for second place, he added.
“I look at the psych sheets, and I see several events where we’ll move up,” Patnott said.
Junior diver Jean Luc Miralda of Tegucigalpa, Honduras (Honduras American) ranks second in 3-meter diving with a top score of 481.05 points.
Junior Christian Otteman of Zeeland, Michigan (Zeeland East HS) is seeded in three individual events. He is fourth in the 200-yard backstroke at 1 minute, 56.64 seconds, sixth in the 400 individual medley with a top performance of 4:25.10 and sixth in the 100 backstroke at 53.90.
MacLean, from Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids HS), is seeded fourth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:43.50 and fourth in the 1,650 freestyle at 16:49.73.
Junior Ryan Johnson of Milford, Michigan (International Academy) is fourth in the 50 freestyle with his time of 21.45 seconds and sixth in the 100 freestyle at 46.93.
Junior Danny Sullivan of Columbus, Ohio (Upper Arlington HS) ranks fifth in the 200 backstroke at 2:01.41.
Freshman Seth DeWitt of Hudsonville, Michigan (Hudsonville HS) is fifth in the 1,650 freestyle at 15:59.34.
The Flying Dutchmen hold the fourth and sixth seeds in the 200 butterfly with sophomore Charlie Emmert of Grand Blanc, Michigan (Flint Powers Catholic HS) at 1:56.64 and senior Nathan Rommel of Overland Park, Kansas (Blue Valley NW) at 1:57.04.