When the Bearcats meet up with the Big Red in the West Gym pool tomorrow, two things will swim through their minds: making up for last year’s loss to the Big Red and the fact that it is alumni weekend for the Bearcats.

After a tough loss to Cornell last season at Ithaca, the Binghamton University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have been preparing for a tough rematch, said BU head coach Sean Clark.

“We are always up for a challenge every time we get up on the blocks,” Clark said. “Every day we get in the pool, we prepare for a race.”

According to the recent poll by collegeswimming.com, the Bearcats men ranked 13th among mid-major Division I programs. Cornell ranked second. Neither women’s squad made the ranks.

Clark recognized those rankings, complimenting both Big Red teams.

“They have a couple big swimmers on the men’s side and are deep on the women’s side,” he said.

Clark then praised his senior leadership as “incredible” for stepping up and teaching the freshmen the ropes.

“I don’t need to encourage our senior leaders anymore,” Clark said. “I rely on them to be self-motivated.”

When questioned about what he told senior standout Brenno Varanda in preparation for tomorrow’s matchup, the third-year head coach said “nothing.”

“[Varanda] knows what he needs to do,” Clark said.

The Bearcats will look to put on a good show, Clark said, as it is alumni weekend for the swimming and diving teams. The team expects at least 15 alumni in the stands cheering on the Bearcats, who are defending their home turf.

In other good news for the aquatic teams, the Division I All-America Spring 2008 team GPA standings were released recently.

The men’s team ranked 26th out of 139 teams with a combined 3.103 GPA for last spring semester. The women’s team ranked 69th out of 190 teams after achieving a 3.153 team GPA. The rankings were according to the College Swimming Coaches of America Association, CSCAA for short.

“I am incredibly proud we are able to get it done in and out of the pool,” Clark said. “It takes a special kind of character to get it done on so many levels. I think we represent Binghamton incredibly well.”

At noon tomorrow, the Bearcats face off against the Big Red at the West Gym.