ISU men’s swimming coach Trip Hedrick hopes his team will “have enough money in the bank” when it swims in the Big 12 Championships starting Thursday in College Station, Texas.

No, the Cyclones aren’t looking for donations. Hedrick is referring to the team’s preparation for the most important meet of the year to this point.

“I really encouraged the guys to put as much money in the bank as they can, and they will be able to make a nice withdrawal at the end of the season,” Hedrick said. “We’ve put a lot in the bank physically and mentally, and I think we’re ready to reap the benefits of that.”

Members of the team agree that Iowa State is prepared for the meet.

“We’ve been training in the pool since mid-September,” said senior Bryan O’Neill. “We really focus everything on this meet. We just put in a lot of preparation. Everything is building up to this meet.”

“The team has put in loads of preparation,” said senior Mitch McGinty. “Everything from dry land to weights, mental preparation in our meetings, and of course, preparation in the pool. So many hours have gone into it.”

The Cyclones go into the Big 12 Championships with a 7-2 overall record in dual meet action and a 2-1 record against Big 12 foes.

Iowa State defeated Missouri and Kansas and lost at Nebraska in conference action. The Cyclones also placed third at the Big 12 Relays earlier in the season.

Iowa State enters the meet with high expectations.

“I think we’ve got some pretty high expectations,” McGinty said. “We’d like to see everybody improve their times, which I think we’re very capable of doing.

“We’re looking to place higher than we did last year. Last year we were fourth out of six teams. I think we’re looking to take out second or third place — Texas A&M or Nebraska. I think we’re all looking forward to some good swims.”

“We want to be right up there contending with everybody else,” O’Neill said.” I think we have a shot at getting a lot of people in the NCs [national championships]. I think a lot of people are going to be swimming real good, real fast.”

Hedrick realizes that the meet will be tough but echoes those high expectations.

“I just think Texas is an overwhelming favorite,” Hedrick said. “They’re a favorite to win the NCAAs right now. I think they’re the strongest team in our conference.”

The competition will be tough for Iowa State. One of the five teams the Cyclones will battle is Texas.

The Longhorns come into the meet ranked No. 1 nationally by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

Texas owns a spotless 10-0 dual meet record. The Longhorns also won the Big 12 Relays.

Texas A&M comes into the meet with a No. 15 national ranking. The Aggies won six and lost two this season.

Their two losses came to ranked opponents, No. 14 SMU and Texas. The Aggies got second place at the Big 12 Relays.

Nebraska finished the regular season with a 5-5 record. The Cornhuskers are ranked 18th nationally.

The Big 12 Championships should be an intense and exciting, according to some ISU swimmers.

“It’s pretty intense because it’s the last meet for a lot of people and this is really the main qualifying stage for NCAAs,” O’Neill said. “All the teams really focus on this meet to get all their guys in the NCs.”

“For most people this is the biggest meet of the season,” McGinty said. “Everybody gets really pumped up for this. We mentally prepare for this [meet] months in advance. That adds to the emotion that goes into it. It’s always pretty exciting.”

Hedrick said the Cyclone swimmers remain confident.

“I think they’re very confident,” he said. “This group is really looking forward to taking on the tough competition.”

The Big 12 Championships could be very physically and mentally draining.

“It’s a great challenge,” Hedrick said. “It’s a three-day meet with preliminaries and finals each day, so you’ll have a lot of swims. You swim preliminaries at noon and go back and swim at finals. You get back to the hotel and eat between 10 or 11 every night, and you’re back at it the next day. That’s the point where the confidence and the conditioning really come into play.”

Hedrick believes the Cyclones will get better in the latter stages of the meet.

“We traditionally get better as the meet goes on,” he said. “This year’s no different. I think our third day is going to be extremely strong.”

Hedrick said that if Iowa State focuses on what needs to be done, then the team will do well.

“You worry about the things you have control over,” said Hedrick. “We can’t control what the other teams do. Our focus is on our performances. If we take care of what we need to take care of, I think the rest will play out very nicely for us.”

The Big 12 Championships start Thursday and continue through Saturday at the Texas A&M Student Recreation Center Natatorium.