It has been 25 days since the University of Evansville men’s swimming and diving team last competed. It has been 25 days of training and seeing no other swim team than themselves. Those 25 days of hard work could be worth it, though, as the Purple Aces head toward Ypsilanti, Michigan, to compete in the Mid-American Conference Championships March 4-6.

“It should be a lot of fun,” said Evansville head coach Rickey Perkins. “The guys have trained really hard this whole season. We just need to control our nerves and get in there and demonstrate how hard we have worked this year, our skills and those simple things that we have done time and time again.

“Our goals for every meet is to have fun, be a team, compete with our hears and have a lot of enthusiasm. I’m looking forward to this meet. I think it is going to be a lot of fun, and it’s totally new. No one has been to Eastern Michigan before, so it will be new experiences that I think will bring us closer as a team.”

All season, the Aces have put up strong performances against tough competition. Freshman Alex Seward currently holds a top-10 time in the conference with his 50.56 in the 100 fly against Southern Illinois. Junior Will Spradley and freshman Kyle Tiemann have also been go-to guys for UE, as all three swimmers rank in the team’s top-three times in various events this season. The divers of senior Josh Fletcher and junior Andy Balczo have also been a consistent force for the Aces.

“As a whole, I think the whole team is going to do really well, especially the way they look in the water right now,” Perkins said. “I think if we get there and not worry about what the other team is doing and focus on ourselves by not letting fear overcome us, I think we are going to do really good.”