Jenny Strom before her warmup on Wednesday morning of the NCAA Championships.
8:56 a.m. – Good morning from the Conroe Natatorium! Day one of the 2015 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships is finally upon us. This day already has a different feel to it. Yesterday was literally the calm before the storm because today’s forecast calls for a 100-percent chance of rain in the greater Houston area.
The team was up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at 7:00 a.m. for its morning walk with coach Lindstrom and coach Weyandt. These morning walks have become of tradition at the NCAA Championships. They not only ensure that the ladies are up and ready to attack the day, but they also aid in awaking the body and mind. It’s also a chance for them to laugh and be goofy one last time before race mode sets in later in the morning.
Following breakfast the team departed for the pool. Coach Carlson wanted to get to Conroe a little earlier this morning so that the team could lay claim to a spot on the deck. It’s sort of like claiming your seat on the first day of class. Once there, it’s yours for the semester. The same goes at the NCAA Championships.
With hundreds of male and female swimmers and divers now occupying the facility, the atmosphere here is electric. Participants, coaches, and meet administrators line all areas of the deck. The energy on pool level is indescribable – especially from a swimming nube like myself. The coaches put the team through its warmup and discuss a little strategy from time to time. At this point, however, it’s all on the individual athlete to mentally prepare. All the training, visualization, and preparation that was discussed in last night’s team meeting comes to fruition this morning. There’s not a whole lot the coaches can say. It’s go time on an individual level.
This morning’s races begin at 10:00 a.m. Hayley Booher is the first to go in the 200 IM. I will be reporting back periodically throughout the morning and adding posts to this blog.
Below is the meet schedule.
http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Order of Events and Awards_15DIII_MWSD_Finals.pdf
Live results can be found here.
http://www.collegeswimming.us/results/28723/
Live video can be accessed here.
http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule
Hayley Booher swims the backstroke in the 200-medley relay.
10:16 a.m. – The 2015 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships are underway at the Conroe Natatorium! The women’s 500 free is currently underway.
As Tom Petty sang, the waiting is the hardest part. This is the most difficult part about the NCAA Championships. Once the team is finished with its warmup, it’s time to wait. The time between can be mentally draining if you don’t handle it with the correct state of mind. In talking with coach Weyandt on the deck, the team is ready but anxious to get a swim in. All that nervous energy will begin to calm once the team gets its first taste of competition.
Each swimmer has her own pre-race routine. Kate Reilly has her head phones in and is bouncing around the deck smiling and dancing. The veterans, Jenny Strom and Katie Olson, sit quietly next to their teammates and coaches. A smile graces their faces from time to time but it’s mostly a look of focus they carry.
Coach Lindstrom and coach Weyandt tend to stay together near where the team is stationed. Much like the East-German Secret Police in the early 1980s, they monitor the field and make it their goal to “know everything.” From the mood of the team to the times being recorded in every heat, Lindstrom and Weyandt have their fingers on the pulse. Coach Carlson is just as focused and just as aware yet can’t stand still for more than three consecutive minutes. Instead, he paces around the deck, stopping periodically to check his email or talk to a fellow colleague. It will be interesting to see where Carlson chooses to post up this morning. I’ll likely be writing more about this later because superstition is huge at the NCAA Championships.
11:20 a.m. – Hayley Booher just swam her 200 IM. She finished seventh in her heat and 34th overall (unofficially). The coaching staff thought Hayley swam a good race and set a positive tone. Gustavus has a race in the books, so that bridge is crossed.
Katie Olson and Kate Reilly are next up in the 50 free. Olson has not been back in the pool since her initial warmup swim. Although the coaches figured she wouldn’t get back in the pool because of her energy on the deck, Reilly did go back in for another warmup. In my conversation with coach Weyandt, each individual is different. Some swimmers want to get back in the pool just before their race while others choose not to. It’s all about personal preference.
11:50 a.m. – Olson and Reilly just swam in the 50 free. You simply have to love the intensity of the meet’s shortest race. You also have to appreciate how fine the line is between being an All-American and not earning a place in the finals. Because it’s such a short race – only down and back – the difference can be a simple stroke or even a slight delay at the start. At this level, the swimmer in the lane next to you will certainly take advantage of any opening.
Olson finished fifth in her heat and 21st overall, while Reilly took eighth in her heat and 34th overall. Both those results are unofficial.
The individual swims are now complete for day one and it’s on to the relays. Gustavus will not have an individual in tonight’s finals.
The Gusties rank seventh in the 200-medley relay heading in to tonight.
12:31 p.m. – Boom! We have our first group of All-Americans. Thanks to their showing in the prelims of the 200-medley relay, Booher, Reilly, Strom, and Olson have earned a spot in tonight’s finals!
I took pictures of the race from the bulkhead and joined the three coaches immediately after the race. What a nerve-racking experience that was. The coaches knew that if Gustauvs’s time was faster than the fifth place team in the final heat, the Gusties would secure in place in the top eight. After each turn, all three coaches would look up at the scoreboard and gauge where their group stood. When the final results flashed, it was an instant celebration amongst the staff and the athletes. The Gusties have a place at the table and that’s all that matters.
I am writing this entry from the media room as the team showers and changes. We will be heading back to the hotel shortly and I will report back from there.
1:22 p.m. – Coach Carlson and I are back in our hotel room in our standard positions across from each other at our desk. I am getting quotes from him about this morning’s session for my formal recap coming up in a little bit. Carlson was pleased with how this morning’s session went. After three individual swims, the Gusties settled in and put together a top eight finish in the 200-medley relay.
I am going to sign off for now and work on the recap from this morning. I will be reporting back with a new blog post for the evening session. The team will meet at 4:30 p.m. at the hotel and will head to the pool shortly after. Below is a photo gallery from the prelims.
To give fans of behind the scenes look at this year’s NCAA Championships, Sports Information Director Ethan Armstrong will be with the Gustavus swimmers in Shenandoah. Over the course of the four-day meet, Armstrong will be blogging, posting pictures and videos, and providing day-by-day recaps of all the action. His blog posts will be entitled “Lone Star State Of Mind” and will be updated on the Gustavus athletics website throughout the meet.