They do it for the love.
As the only non-scholarship program in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Duke women's swimming and diving squad hits the pool in each of its meets fighting up a steep heel. In most cases, the challenge is so steep that the Blue Devils know ahead of time that a team win is most certainly not in the cards.
Yet they still practice twice a day, get up well before dawn and stretch their bodies to the physical limits for their sport.
"For us, we really want to swim," sophomore Jamie Fleming said. "We're there because we definitely want to do it, not because it's something that's getting us through college.
"For other teams, a lot of swimmers go to that college because they're getting the scholarship. We come here because we want to swim, and it's not like a job. You really have to have a lot of love for the sport because we put a lot of time in and meet the maximum hours just like they do."
Duke, already 0-2 in the ACC after dual meet losses to UNC and N.C. State, heads into its season not expecting to make history by jumping to the top of the conference but seeking personal improvements across the board.
"Coach [Bob Thompson] is hoping we'll have a more competitive team than we've had in the past," Fleming said. "We have a lot of strong freshmen swimmers. Now we just concentrate on getting our times down, especially in these big meets where we face all-scholarship teams and there's very little chance we'll win. Basically, we just get up and race ourselves and our teammates."
Duke also has several out-of-conference dual meets coming up soon that it feels it can compete to win in.
"Our meets against ODU, UNC-Wilmington and East Carolina over the next couple of weekends should all be really close," junior Heather Winter said.
Winter has emerged as the Blue Devils' top swimmer in the 200 breaststroke, just ahead of senior Kristin Gardner, after mostly swimming the butterfly last year.
"Last year I didn't swim so well," Winter said. "I should be able to drop some time in the breaststroke, and I think I should be able to swim a personal best at ACCs."
A pair of freshmen have already shown their stuff in the 20 freestyle as Susan Keeler and Liz Boswell finished 1-2 for Duke at its Nov. 4 meet in Chapel Hill.
Keeler's 25.54 time is less than a second off of Mary Connolly's 1989 school record of 24.63. Boswell, meanwhile, has demonstrated considerable potential to her teammates.
"Liz Boswell is a real competitor," Fleming said. "She just gets in there and races, and I think she's going to have a really impressive freshman year because she has a really good attitude."
One of the Blue Devils' other top freshmen is diver Kristy Guenther. Guenther won the one-meter competition at Carolina and finished second in the two-meter.
Another new face that should help Duke in its dual meets is junior Amy Armond. The Snelville, Ga. native transferred to Duke this year after spending her last two years at Florida State.
"She had always wanted to come to Duke for academic reasons, and she finally got the chance to come," Winter said.
Armond has already proven her value to the Blue Devils, recording top times in the 500 freestyle and the 200 butterfly.
"She's a great swimmer," Winter said. "She can swim just about anything. She's really well-rounded, and she should help us out a lot."
Top returning swimmers include juniors Jill Spitzfaden, Emily Voekler and Leslie King. Spitzfaden has recorded Duke's best time in the 200 freestyle so far this year, while Voekler has the Blue Devils' best marks in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. King recorded Duke's top time in the 100 freestyle while also placing second behind sophomore Catherine Preston in the 1000 freestyle.
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