WKU hasn’t had a loss added to its resume since both the men’s and women’s teams fell to Kentucky on October 29.

Since that defeat, the Toppers have had eight straight wins, and the Lady Toppers have won nine in a row.

Both teams are currently in Dallas, competing in the Sun Belt Conference Championships and looking to continue their streak of success.

Head Coach Bruce Marchionda said the teams have put in all the hard work that he’s asked of them leading up to now.

But he said now they’re at what he calls “the moment of truth” that will define their season.

“We’ve talked numerous times throughout the course of the year about what we call ‘the moment of truth,’” Marchionda said. “In other words, when you get up on the block or the boards, you have to ask yourself if you did the work necessary to be successful at this level of competition.

“I could say without hesitation that collectively as a group they’ve done everything I’ve asked them to do. They’ve worked very hard, so their moment of truth should be pretty good.”

 

The championships kicked off on Wednesday with the 200-yard medley relay, followed by the finals of the women’s 3-meter diving and the 800-yard freestyle relay.

The day was highlighted by a WKU sweep of the men’s and women’s 200-yard medley event.

Marchionda said he thinks the men’s team’s greatest competition will come from Denver, with Denver and North Texas being tough on the women’s side.

Denver won both championships a season ago while WKU finished runner-up on both sides.

Marchionda said he also emphasized support to his team as a key to success this week.

“We’ve talked a large amount about supporting one another — coming closer as a team, working as a team and that it’s a bigger picture than all the individual swims,” he said.

He said they’ve put in the work necessary and that shows in the success they’ve found throughout the season.

Marchionda said he thinks the winning streaks will play to WKU’s advantage.

“I think it’s obviously a confidence booster as they go in to the conference championships,” Marchionda said. “Any time you have that factor of confidence, I think it helps you tremendously.” 

The meet will continue through Saturday, with event preliminaries beginning at 11 a.m. and the finals of those events taking place at 6 p.m. each night.