The main goal for the ISU women’s swimming and diving team at the Big 12 Championships isn’t necessarily to win the tournament, but to qualify swimmers for the upcoming NCAA Championships.

That goal also seems to be the goal for every other team competing in the Big 12 Championships.

“Our No. 1 goal is to qualify as many people as we can to the NCAA Championships,” head coach Duane Sorenson said.

“Of course, we’d like each swimmer to have their personal bests, and we’d like to score as many points as possible, but the main goal is to qualify as many swimmers to the NCAAs as possible.”

ISU diving coach Jeff Warrick said his divers all have their own goals, but he doesn’t want them focusing too much on their personal achievements.

“We have team and individual goals for championships,” Warrick said. “[But] we want to try and leave them at home so we’re not just focusing on them throughout the competition.

“If we focus on the competition and have fun, then we feel our goals will fall into place.”

Sorenson said the length of the tournament will be beneficial to his swimmers.

“The way the meet is spread out over three days is an advantage because it gives swimmers more time to rest between their races,” Sorenson said.

Both coaches said they feel their teams are as ready as they can be for the tournament.

“As far as preparing for Big 12 Championships, all the work on technique is already done,” Warrick said. “Our mindset is to look forward to the championships and enjoy it.”

Sorenson said the swimmers have spent time discussing what to expect and simply going out and swimming their races.

“During practice lately, we haven’t spent much time in the pool,” Sorenson said. “We’ve been trying to swim at race pace, and [we’ve been] fine-tuning things.”

Last season, Sorenson coached Iowa State to fifth place in the Big 12 Championships with a score of 407 points.

The year before, Sorenson’s team finished in fourth place at the Big 12 Championships with 500 points, a school record for the tournament. Senior Petra Plaminkova was a member of both of those teams.

Although Plaminkova has competed in the Big 12 Championships before, she said she is still excited about competing this year.

“My parents are flying in, so I’m very excited about that,” Plaminkova said. “I expect to go out there and just do my best and have fun. I just want to go out there and give 100 percent and know that I did all I could and couldn’t give anymore.”

Plaminkova placed the highest of any ISU swimmer in the 2002 championships, with a second-place finish in two events.

Although Iowa State isn’t favored, Sorenson said his team should still be in the mix of the tough conference.

“We’re really concerned about every team competing,” Sorenson said. “Texas is probably favored to win it, with Texas A&M right behind them. I think it will be a battle between Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa State for third place. It’s an extremely competitive conference. It’ll be what we call a fast meet; one with some very good swimming times.”

Plaminkova, who said she does have a personal goal but won’t say what it is, had a prediction for Iowa State’s team finish.

“We need to cheer for each other and be a family,” Plaminkova said. “I truly do believe that every one will do well at the tournament.”