FAIRFIELD, Conn. – With just two weeks remaining before the season opening Fairfield Invitational, Head Coach Anthony Bruno has been preparing his 2021-22 Swimming and Diving Teams for what could be one of the program's more rigorous schedules in recent years. In preparation for the upcoming season, Bruno has changed things up just enough to prepare his team for the competitive challenges that the teams will face in 2021-22.

"Since the last 18 months have been unconventional, we really couldn't take a conventional approach in preparing for this season," Coach Bruno said. "We are trying to take the approach of starting with just general fitness and ramping to make sure we are physically and mentally ready to go. We will start to pick up more at the beginning of October with more intense training. The team attitudes have been great and so has the effort. I think the support that the teams have had for each other has really made a difference."

The Stags will welcome Southern Connecticut State University, Manhattan College, and Sacred Heart University to the Fairfield campus for the Fairfield Invitational on October 9. It's a meet that will provide the Stags with an excellent opportunity to gauge themselves for the upcoming campaign.

"The last few years we used the Fairfield Invitational as a kickoff event," Bruno said. "We have a several teams coming in for an invitational format which allows us to get a lot of racing in which is very important early in the season."

Fairfield will take to the road for its next two meets, traveling to Monmouth University on October 16 and at the College of the Holy Cross on October 29. The teams return home to swim against Providence on October 30.

"Monmouth is historically a very good opponent for us especially early in the season," Coach Bruno said "Later in October, we will really get to see where we are when we go to Holy Cross followed by Providence coming here. Those are always good rivalry meets."

The month of November begins with another conference opponent as Marist College will come to Fairfield on November 6.

"The Marist women won eight straight women's MAAC titles and now we have won three straight so it will be an interesting day for both teams," Coach Bruno said. "The dual meets have gone back and forth over the last few years which had added to the rivalry. I expect there will be a lot of energy that day."

The Stags will have a week off before competing in the Terrier Invitational, an event that will include many of the best teams in the region.

"I think The Terrier Invitational will be a good rest for us," Coach Bruno said. "Over the last 18 months, we haven't had many chances to compete in a championship  format so this will give us an opportunity to do prelims and finals in a great facility with great competition."

During the semester break, the men's and women's teams will travel south for their annual training trip that provides the opportunity for Coach Bruno to evaluate and prepare the program for the upcoming championships that highlight the second half of the schedule."

"The best aspect of training trip is that it allows us to be on the same schedule for everything all the time," Coach Bruno said. "We are always together which is different than on campus when there are not many chances to have everyone together at the same time because people have class or a lab. The ability to go to training trip and have everyone on the same clock really galvanizes the team for that last push as we get ready for the championships. We really try to ride that momentum of training trip to the finish line."

Upon their return, the Stags will have four straight dual meets including home dates with Seton Hall (January 7) and Iona (January 22) along with road competitions with Rider (January 15) and Manhattan (January 21).

"For the first time in a while, we will be going to Rider for a dual meet," Coach Bruno said "We are always looking to put our men into position to win a championship and Rider has been the standard. So, it will be interesting to see what our men as well as our women can do against Rider on the road. Manhattan and Iona have always been good, competitive meets for us and I expect that to continue this year. Iona will be our senior day opponent so I sure it will be an intense environment because we hope to send our seniors off on a good note."

The Boston University Winter Open takes place on February 4-5 followed by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships from February 9-12. The conference championship returns to Buffalo, N.Y. this season.

"Since we did not get to compete in the MAACs last year, the women are looking to continue their title run," Coach Bruno said. "We truly believe this is the best men's team we have had here from top to bottom. We can cover all the events and are strong is so many areas. Our diving team has elevated with seven women divers and four men divers which gives us one of the largest diving squads we have ever had."

After the MAAC Championships, the teams will focus on national competition with the CSCAA National Invitational which takes place in Indiana beginning on March 10.

"Competing at the CSCAAs will give us a chance to measure ourselves against some of the top competition in the country," Coach Bruno said. "It's a great opportunity to get some national experience and national exposure."