Bouchard backs Tigers' successful weekend

Both the men and women's swimming and diving won this weekend.

By Sean Leahy

Published Dec. 8, 2009

Missouri's Dominique Bouchard got some work done for the women's swimming and diving team this weekend.

Bouchard took first in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke as the Missouri men and women won the three-day Mizzou Invite. With the win, the Tigers ran their win streak to three meets.

A freshman from North Bay, Ontario, Bouchard set a Mizzou Invite record Saturday in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.76. The time was .02 seconds short of the school record.

Bouchard followed up her performance Saturday with another Mizzou Invite best Sunday in the 200-yard backstroke. Her time of 1:55.55 put her ahead of teammate junior Lauren Lavigna, who finished second with 1:57.53.

"I was not really expecting anything," Bouchard said. I really wanted to swim fast and whatever was going to happen, happened."

Bouchard also finished third in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:03.92.

Lavigna held her own in the backstroke, taking third in the 100-yard race with a time of 55.29.

"For me, I was pretty happy with how I swam for where I am right now," Lavigna said. "To go close to a best time halfway through the year is good for me."

The junior is looking forward to what she and Bouchard can do later in the season.

"It's going to be exciting to see what we can do at the end of the year together," Lavigna said.

The Missouri women totaled 1,109.5 points and finished ahead of Arizona State by more than 300 points. Nebraska finished in third place.

As for the Missouri men, junior Jordan Hawley finished up a strong weekend by winning the 100-yard freestyle and swimming in the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team. Hawley also won the 50-yard freestyle and participated in the victorious 400-yard medley relay earlier in the weekend.

The Tigers earned 1,171 points during the weekend and finished comfortably ahead of Drury and Southern Illinois.

The conclusion of the Mizzou Invite begins a quiet period in Missouri's schedule. The Tigers are off for a month until they get back in the pool for a meet against Missouri University of Science and Technology on Jan. 9.

"Right now it's kind of a decompression of a lot of meets we had and a lot evaluation will go on," coach Brian Hoffer said. "What can we do to get better, and then we will move on from there."

With an eye on the Big 12 Championships in late February, Bouchard said this is a time for the team to get some training in the books.

"It's a time to refocus and get a lot of yardage in and make sure that we'll be ready for February," Bouchard said.

As for her good weekend, Bouchard said even that can be improved upon this upcoming month.

"I was really happy with my race, but now its back to the drawing board to see what we can do to get better and stronger," Bouchard said.