FREDONIA, N.Y. – Fredonia State swimmers and divers returned to campus Friday in advance of their final home meet of the season, 1 p.m. Saturday vs. Nazareth and Ithaca colleges, inside the Steele Hall Natatorium.

In preparation, the Blue Devils trained for the past week in Florida at the Coral Springs Aquatic Center. It was the fifth time in eight years under head coach Arthur Wang that the team as used the Center for its winter workouts.

Five-time U.S. Olympian Dara Torres also uses the facility and at the invitation of Wang, spoke with the Blue Devils on Wednesday morning. The 43-year-old Torres gave a history of her career, including a second-place in the 50-meter freestyle by 1/100th of a second at the 2008 Games in Beijing. She also posted the world's fastest 100-meter time that year during a relay start.

“She shared her thoughts before and after the races,” Wang said. “The talk was dynamic. Everyone was focused on every word.”

Following her talk, Torres did her weightlifting workout as the Blue Devils looked on. Wang believes the combination of the good Florida weather and a chance to hear and watch Torres was beneficial to his team.

“This year's training was harder for sure,” he said. “The weather was great.  With such a young team, it was a challenging experience to persevere through the arduous training regimen we put forth.  We worked harder and stayed more positive through the tougher times of training.

“Seeing Dara made it much more worth it for the team.  They will all be able to look back with their time with Dara for inspiration in future swims.”