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Josh Friemel / Staff Writer –

As a society that demands honesty and the inside scoop from athletes, we question their team loyalty when they are blatantly honest about the team or their teammates.

On the flipside of that, we become restless when we hear the same “It was a great team effort” line from the exact same athlete.

That hasn’t been the case with Joe Dykstra this season.

Twice this year, Dykstra, head coach of the UNT swimming and diving team, has told me flat out that the Mean Green’s opponent will have the upper hand in a meet. The first time was against No. 6 ranked Texas A&M, a 186-105 loss.

The second time was two days before the Sun Belt Championships in Rockwall. Dykstra told me it was Denver’s meet to lose. That honesty may drive some people crazy.

But Dykstra doesn’t doubt his team at all. Even with what he calls the best team he’s ever had, pure talent isn’t the reason he thinks of his team so highly.

During his tenure at UNT, this team is his greatest because of its camaraderie. Of course, players like freshman Krista Rossum have helped, but team chemistry was his top reason.

It’s odd to have team chemistry in swimming, right? How can a sport with no ball have chemistry? Truth is, everyone has dealt with some sort of issue where good or bad chemistry has affected the outcome.

Chemistry isn’t just in sports. Everyone’s dealt with the kid who contributes absolutely nothing to a group project, thus dragging the group’s grade down.

However, it’s always very easy to tell when a team has really good chemistry.

What makes the swimming team’s chemistry more impressive is the number of new faces and underclassmen on the team. Of the 35 members, 21 are considered underclassmen, 14 of them freshmen. To be able to mesh so quickly with one another and to not have any senior-freshmen confrontations about team dominance is a moral victory in itself.

Thus far, Dykstra has been right. After the first day of championship action, the Mean Green is up on Denver 110-101 and sits at first place. The team also set two school records in the 800-free and 3-meter dive.

For at least one day, UNT’s chemistry is faring better than the team whose meet it was to lose. The Mean Green is outperforming expectations in Rockwall, and there’s no reason to think it won’t come out of the weekend as the SBC Champions.

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OPINION: Chemistry leads UNT to day one advantage