This week, the NMU swim and dive teams will hit the water for a meet for the first time since the Calvin College Invite back on November 30, 2023. NMU will host UW-Green Bay on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 1 p.m.

Most recently, the ‘Cats were supposed to compete in the UW-Stevens Point meet, but it was canceled due to weather. This was the second meet since December to be canceled for the Wildcats. 

“We were pretty bummed,” Head Coach Heidi Voigt said. “We went down to the Collegiate Open Water Nationals, we had four men and four women [who] were excited about competing and the weather was too bad, believe it or not, in Miami, Florida and the waves were too big, and they didn’t feel like they could run a safe race… then we had another cancellation on Saturday due to the winter storm here.”

Not only has the team missed back-to-back meets, but the team is also looking ahead to the post-season on the horizon, with only a couple of meets left in the regular season before moving on to the GLIAC championships set to start Friday, Feb. 9. 

“I say we switch from doing like quantity to quality,” Voigt said. “Everything we do is more point on the techniques and the finishes and starts… divers for sure at this point are not learning a lot of new dives, they’re fine-tuning those dives [and] getting ready to go.”  

Throughout the season, there have been several swimmers and divers who have broken records and made impacts on the team. One of those athletes is sophomore Leo Nolles, who is heading to nationals as well as the world championships. Nolles placed first in the 200-yard freestyle relay, 50-yard freestyle and 800-yard freestyle relay all in their most recent meet, the Calvin College Invite. 

“He’s looking really good right now… so [I’m] excited for him,” Voigt said. 

The ‘Cats will host the UW-Green Bay on Saturday, Jan. 20. The team will then go on to host Michigan Tech on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. and will also honor their seniors as the regular season comes to an end. The team’s post-season will kick off on Feb. 9 for the first day of the GLIAC championships. They will then move on to the NCAA championships in March. 

“Anything can happen, that’s the fun part about it,” Voigt said.