WINONA, Minn. - Eric Lindquist will be the first to admit that he is a realist when it comes to his Saint Mary’s University swimming and diving teams.

In fact, ask him what his expectations are for his Cardinals at the season-ending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships, and he’ll quickly respond, “We aren’t going to win any conference (team) championships.”

That’s not a knock on the Cardinals - not in the least.

That’s just Lindquist telling it like it is - with the numbers he has to work with, SMU just isn’t in the same class as MIAC powers Gustavus or St. Olaf.

“Swimming isn’t like other sports,” explained Lindquist, who is entering his sixth season as the Cardinals’ head coach. “It’s not like basketball or hockey, where a bounce here or there could be the difference between winning and losing.

“In swimming, numbers don’t lie - and where we’re at numberswise, we’re not going to knock down a Gustavus or a St. Olaf.”

But that doesn’t mean Lindquist doesn’t have high expectations for his teams.

Just the opposite.

“Our approach to the season is pretty simple - train hard and prepare so that when the MIAC Championships roll around, we are ready to put together our best performances of the season,” said Lindquist, whose men’s team placed seventh at last year’s conference championships, while the women were 10th. “I think we have some people who can do some really good things at the MIAC – they have the potential to score some big points.

So our whole focus is on making sure we’re at our best for those three days.”

Which can make for a grueling season - considering that, with that approach, the Cardinals will be training for nearly five months in preparation for a three-day event.

“That’s swimming,” Lindquist said. “No matter if it’s high school or college, your season-ending meet - whether it’s sections or state (in high school) or the MIAC or nationals (in college) - is what you train for.

“You use the duals and invitationals throughout the year to gauge where you are at in your training, but the bottom line is, everything you do is gearing up for that one meet.

“It’s just the nature of the sport.”

And as Lindquist and the Cardinals begin “gearing up,” the SMU head coach finds himself with a similar numbers quandary to a year ago.

On the one hand, SMU once again has just four male swimmers, and, on the other hand, the women’s roster is again packed with talented individuals.

“Obviously, we’re thin again on the men’s side, but we have a couple of proven veterans who have the opportunity to do real well this season,” said Lindquist, referring to Logan Twedt (Hastings, Minn.) and Sean Gibson (Chicago, Ill.) - both SMU record-holders and both capable of scoring points at the conference meet. “With a roster that small, you have to set your own goals. You aren’t going to win too many duals with four guys, so you focus on personal improvement.

“On the women’s side, we probably have more talent, and are deeper, than we have been in a long time,” continued Lindquist, whose women’s squad is led by seniors Becca Grube (Appleton, Wis.), Jenny Moore (Richfield, Minn.), Lindsay DeLaRosby (Two Harbors, Minn.) and Lindsey Salisbury (Waukesha, Wis.). “I’m anxious for that first meet, so that we can see where these ladies are at in terms of the rest of the conference.”