If NIU women’s swimming and diving coach Mike Burt and his team had their way, the 1990-91 season would have already started.

“We are anxious to get started,” Burt said. “This past week we’ve been practicing twice a day and that gets to be a drag so we’re anxious to get going.”

“Physically the (two-a-day) practices have made us a little tired, but this is just preparing us for how well we will do under these conditions during the season,” added Burt.

The season that the Huskies are anxious to start begins with a meet against powerhouse Illinois State, a team that has won the Midwest Independent Regional the past four years.

“It’s a tough meet to start with and we better perform really well in order to make a strong run at them,” Burt said. “On paper they’re a little stronger than us, but they do have a couple of weak spots and I think we’ll give them a good run.”

The meet against Illinois State will be the start of a season that Burt hopes will meet several goals.

“Unlike other sports, the won-loss record is not all that important,” said Burt. “We would like to have two or three individual championships and possibly set five or six new school records as well as being a factor in the team race at regionals. We also would like to have qualifiers for the U.S. Senior Nationals meet.

Burt also added that he would like to improve on the number of points accumulated last season and improve on last year’s third place finish in the Mid-West Regional.

To accomplish these goals, Burt is banking on the performance of three-year letter-winner Stacey Hartzer who closed out the past season by setting two school records for the 500-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle at the Mid-West Regional.

As the Huskies head toward their season-opening meet, they have not lost sight that the won-loss record is not that important. “Our main goal is to perform well in February at the Mid-West Independent meet,” Burt said. “All of our athletic goals lead to that one goal.”