AMHERST, N.Y. — Wednesday kicks off the Mid Atlantic Conference Championships for the swim and dive teams — and that bit of “MACtion” is being hosted by the University at Buffalo.

"My mom saw my posters for lessons and she didn't really know how to swim that well, so she wanted to make sure that me and my sister did," said free and backstroke swimmer for UB, Mia Naccarella.

Different strokes for different folks bring athletes from UB’s swim and dive team to the pool.

"It was just really fun. I just enjoyed throwing myself off a board and it hurts a lot less landing in the water than it was on a mat or anything solid," added Marialis Kwak, a top-notch diver for the squad. 

Fifth-year communications major Naccarella took all of her first year to hit personal marks and get on the school record board with her sister.

"I kind of just swam, because that's all I knew,” she said. “And then I came here, and I feel like that really gave me the motivation to push myself and just go to that next level.”

On the boards, Kwak is having a banner year, going undefeated at regular meets and having earned six diver of the week awards. From the mat to the pool, how'd she do it?

"I think for diving, some of it is the satisfaction of just being able to do the dives. Being able to get something so hard that you've worked so hard for and that has that, innate fear like, puts that sense of fear into you," she said. "I already had the instinct to flip, which is probably the hardest part, is to figure out how to get the bottom half of you over your head, because you're trained to only land on your feet." 

Both ladies are fueling a hungry Bulls team who are all using this experience to grow in the classroom and in the water.

"I think it's been a hard struggle to maintain the balance of the two, but I think personally, I'm better for it," said Kwak. "Especially if I want to pursue my career or a master's or PhD program. I don't know how to balance my work-life."

"It's taught me to be a hard worker and honestly, if I can work out for 20 hours a week, I think I'll survive anything else," Naccarella said.

Both of these ladies are part of the heart of a hungry team ready to host the conference championship in Western New York. 

"The MAC being here, it was actually a big reason for me wanting to take a fifth year and I just thought it'd be really cool just having my last really big meet at home," she said.

"It's exciting to just finish out with my senior class,” said Kwak. “Like we've grown really close and I love all of them. So it's really nice to have this final conclusion where it all started as well in this arena.”