The UND men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams celebrate after their victories on Oct. 3 at Hyslop Sports Center. Photo by Nicholas Nelson/The Dakota Student.

Both men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be hosting home events this weekend in hopes of continuing their success.

The men’s team will take on South Dakota and Air Force, while the women’s squad will challenge South Dakota and Northern Colorado.

Senior swimmer and Grand Forks native Erin Grabanski has been impressed with the way both teams have started the season.

“I think it has been going really well so far,” she said. “Everyone has been recording really fast times. We have put a lot of work in and have been training really hard up to this point of the season.”

Grabanski’s final year at UND gives her plenty of reason to set high goals for herself and for the team in the 2014 season.

As a junior last season, she set a new UND record with a time of 26.26 in the breaststroke and recorded season-best times at the WAC Championships.

“We want to place higher in conference this season, at least top three in all of the different relays,” Grabanski said. “Personally, I want to break a couple of UND records this season in the 100-meter backstroke and 200-meter individual medley.”

Grabanski also believes the team has plenty of big-time talent to make a strong impact in the standings this year.

“The team added a lot of key freshman to the relays and it’s going to make our times faster overall,” she said. “Freshman Grace DiMeo has a great backstroke and will be really helpful for the team this season.”

This year, UND hopes to continue its strength in all areas of the pool.

Both teams defeated two of its opponents already this season, but consistent improvement remains a key factor.

“We just need to focus on some minor technical things and some small details in our races,” Grabanski said. “If we keep pushing each other like we are in practice, it shouldn’t be hard to change.”

While competing at UND may not be anything new for the team, Grabanski feels she benefits from swimming in a familiar pool.

“It’s different in the way that it’s not very exciting swimming in your own pool, but you do have the advantage over the other swimmers with knowing the pool,” Grabanski said. “The home advantage is helpful for me in the backstroke because I’m able to look up at the ceiling and know where I am, and it’s also always nice to get a win at home.”

This weekend marks the second home event the swim teams have hosted this season.

On Oct. 3, UND hosted St. Cloud state at the Hyslop, in which both teams picked up their first wins of the season in dominating fashion.

The men’s team won 177-121, and the women outscored St. Cloud, 183-109

Gabi Liedy had a great day for the women, starting her collegiate career by winning the 1,000 free, touching more than 20 seconds ahead of the field (10:32.72). On the men’s side, freshman Martin Pozniak outdistanced the field by more than five seconds in swimming to his first collegiate win of 1:53.09 in the 200 butterfly.

Friday’s meets will start at 6 p.m., while the Saturday events will start at noon. UND looks to be set and ready to go for a successful season in swimming and diving.

Ben Novak is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].