At about one-fourth of the way through its season, the ISU swimming and diving team is 2-2.

There are still a lot of major meets for the team, but coach Duane Sorenson said the Cyclones are “through the grind.”

Iowa State has been putting in a lot of practice and work, especially with no meet in the previous week. The team is working to prepare itself for what lies ahead in the season.

“We’re training really well, we have been working on a lot of the little details to try to find a 10th here or a 10th there to improve their time,” Sorenson said. “We’ve been through the grind part of the season now, and we’ve just been working really hard day after day, and so it will just be good to see if all of our hard work has paid off.”

These next meets will bring challenges for the swim team as it competes this weekend in a three-day meet.

“I feel we’re doing exceptionally well, we are really looking forward to this weekend competing at the highest level,” said assistant coach Kelly Nordell, who knows the Kansas Invitational could be exhausting for the team.

This meet is followed by the upcoming meet in Iowa for the swimmers and divers, winter training camp, and a jam-packed January season before they start looking ahead to championships.

“I think they are doing really great. They are really a good group; they work really well together. They’re pushing each other at practices and meets,” said diving coach Jeff Warrick.

The diving team, which does not compete in Kansas this weekend with the swim team, will have their next meet Nov. 30. Warrick said the team has been working hard and making some real changes to be ready for the rest of the season.

“It is exciting to watch the changes that we’ve been seeing,” Warrick said. “Recently, we’ve been going to a different facility to train the higher-level platforms. … That’s new for our team, and that’s exciting too. Still got quite a bit to go, but I’m liking where were at right now.”

Nordell predicts the rest of the season will be challenging but rewarding for the Iowa State swimming and diving team.

She says the team needs to stay healthy, prepare for the challenge the meet in Iowa will bring, and look ahead to gauging how much work needs to be done coming off of Christmas training.

“I always looks forward to just seeing the end result: How they look at the end of the season,” Warrick said.