With the Big 12 Championships two-and-a-half weeks away, the ISU swimming and diving team is taking advantage of every single day of practice.

“We do a lot of quality swimming everyday at practice and really work on the fine details,” said ISU coach Duane Sorenson. “We really get [the swimmers] to focus on the little things.”

Yardage in the pool goes down and intensity goes up for the Cyclones as they prepare to head to Austin, Texas, for the Big 12 Championships on Feb. 26. Iowa State’s practices aren’t quite as long, heading into Big 12s, but the women competing against themselves everyday.

Senior Imelda Wistey said the way she keeps focus during the layoff is by enjoying practice every day and getting a lot of rest.

“We’re just being a little bit more relaxed; I think that helps a lot,” Wistey said. “My focus hasn’t really changed. My focus stays pretty consistent throughout the season. I just try to keep a level head. The only difference I feel is we’re doing less yardage and more explosive stuff.”

After Iowa State’s first home win of the season against Kansas on senior day last weekend, the Cyclones have some momentum heading into the Big 12 Championships.

“[The win against Kansas] was a good confidence booster that we can swim with them,” Sorenson said. “They beat us at their invitational back in November, and we turn around and beat them here. It just gives us that ‘Yeah, we can hang with them and we can compete with them.'”

Freshman McKenzie Goudreau said the positivity the team got from the Kansas win can really be a confidence booster and advantage for Big 12s.

“I think where our mindset is, is really positive after that [Kansas] win,” Goudreau said. “We can carry that through just by keeping our energy up, staying positive and relying on each other. It was a big win for us and a morale boost for everybody.”

The Cyclones have high expectations heading into Big 12s. Sorenson said the team has expectations of finishing in the top three of the conference, but also recognizes the challenge TCU, Kansas and West Virginia can provide.

“It’s going to be four teams fighting it out for second. We could swim outstanding and get fourth, and we could swim outstanding and get second,” Sorenson said. “It’s just about everybody going out there and doing their best in each session and swimming a lot of lifetime bests.”

The Big 12 Championships is a meet with seven sessions, and Sorenson believes the key to being successful is to remain focused and to swim in the present. He said if everyone gives their best effort each session, it will have a snowball effect and the meet will take care of itself.

“This is the best time of the year,” Wistey said.