Thirty-three and a half months. One thousand and eighteen days. December. 17, 2019, to be exact.
It's been that long since the Loyola Wolf Pack men's and women's swim teams have welcomed an opponent inside The Den for a home swim meet. Most of the student-athletes on the roster have never experienced that feeling. In fact, when Ouachita Baptist University comes to New Orleans on Saturday, Oct. 1, it'll be the first in-person swim meet at home for the juniors on the rosters.
The meet is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and fans are encouraged to attend and support the Wolf Pack in their return to The Den. Seating will be made available on the pool deck as well as on the balcony on the sixth floor of the USC.
From COVID-19 forcing the programs to host virtual swim meets during the 2020-21 season and Hurricane Ida preventing the Wolf Pack from even practicing in The Den, the two programs have finally made their way back home. The damage Hurricane Ida caused last fall to the University Sports Complex was enough to keep the teams away for nearly a year, finally returning to the pool on the fifth floor of the complex just days before the anniversary of the storm in August.
Despite the circumstances, neither team wavered. Spending nearly 12 months away from their home facility, the women's team turned in another NAIA National Championship appearance last season while the men's team took strides back toward the national rankings. Instead of having an on-campus facility, the teams trained at nearby Newman School but they ultimately made the pool at Ochsner's Elmwood location their home, which was a 20-plus-minute ride from Loyola's uptown location.
"It was great you had a pool, but we weren't able to train the amount of hours we normally do," Loyola men's and women's swim head coach Thomas Natal said. "It was a logistical issue as well."
Since the facility wasn't just around the corner from campus. Plans had to be made for carpooling the team while juggling all the student-athletes' class schedules. On top of that, the facility is an outdoor pool, and the teams' regular seasons run right through the winter months. Although the pool was heated, it was still an element of adversity the team had to fight through during those December and January practices.
"The pool's heated, but the air outside is not," Natal said. "So anytime you're on the wall like you're breathing the cold air, anytime you're going from the locker room in the pool or going to the bathroom, you know, it's cold.
"I think in the beginning they looked at it like a badge of honor, like, we're going to use this, and we talked about using it make us tougher and make us more connected. But you can only ride that wave for so long."
Despite all of the obstacles, the Wolf Pack women's swim team finished 13th at the NAIA National Championships in March and third at the tough Mid-South Conference Championships. Natal was named the Mid-South Women's co-Coach of the Year while Jenna Copes, who broke four school records and became the conference champion in the 100-yard Butterfly, was named the league's Freshman of the Year.
Adversity didn't just hit the team in the pool, however. Natal suffered a heart attack right after Hurricane Ida and couldn't be around the team for a few weeks, leaving assistant coaches Tim Buisson and Victoria Barczyk in charge, who Natal completely trusts and credits for Loyola's successful season.
"It definitely changed my perspective on a lot of stuff and I think," Natal said. "I was just trying to be positive no matter what the situation, and I think that was my goal. I was going to be positive, put a positive spin or positive twist on everything. Let's focus on the good and let's not worry about the stuff we can't control."
Natal eventually returned to the team and earn Coach of the Year accolades after a successful season, and he's excited to see his two teams take another step forward this year. His optimistic view on the upcoming season is for good reason, too. His women's team is returning a heap of talent and is ready to make another NAIA National Championship run while the men's team is on the cusp of reentering the national spotlight. Wolf Pack fans will have two chances to see the teams in action as well, first hosting the Oct. 1 swim meet and then welcoming Birmingham Southern to The Den Oct. 28-29.
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
