8:54: a.m. – Good morning everyone and welcome back to the Gustavus women’s swimming and diving blog. We are back in the Conroe Natatorium for the final day of the 2015 NCAA Championships. Despite it being the last prelim session of this meet, the energy level is still just as high as it was when I first walked onto the pool deck on Wednesday morning.
The Gusties have done a great job handling the strain of this this meet. They were energetic this morning during what was their last team walk and they were focused during what was their last morning team meeting.
Below is rundown of what was discussed in our morning meeting. I will paraphrase each coach’s message from their point of view the best I can.
Coach Carlson: You enter today on the outside looking in [in reference to a top 10 standing]. Today is a big day for us with a lot of chances to score and reach our team goal. You don’t need to do anything Herculean this morning. All you need to do is rely on your training and preparation and do what you do well. There are no tricks or new skills to learn, just what you do well. The effort will be there so prepare yourself mentally and let it rip.
Coach Lindstrom: Despite it being day four, your speed is still there. You will hear a lot of athletes on the deck say things like “I’m so tired,” or, “I can’t wait for this day to be over.” That’s not this group’s mentality and that’s not how Gusties go into this day. Today is just like Wednesday and you have to go in with that mindset. We believe in you and know what you’re capable of. Trust yourself and leave it in the pool.
Coach Weyandt: Go into today with a champion’s mentality. The big teams here enter this day with that mentality and I want to see us mirror that. It’s what you did at conference so there is no doubt that you are capable.
Coach Carlson has been kind enough to allow me to address the team on several occasions throughout the week. Even though I am here to be seen, not heard, the staff and athletes have welcomed me with open arms and have made me feel part of the team. I thought about what I would say to the athletes this morning and I kept reflecting on the sport itself. Swimming is so different from the sports I’ve participated in during my athletic career because of its individual nature. Football, basketball, and baseball are all reactionary and so much is dictated by your opponent. When you’re on the blocks and you dive in, you are essentially racing against yourself. Sure, there is someone in the lane next to you, but that’s just a minor detail when you’re killing yourself to get to the wall. These swimmers have a chance to finish their season on their own terms. A Hail Mary or buzzer beater isn’t going to cost them a trip to the finals – it’s all on them. Preparation, mindset, and keeping it simple were the key themes this morning. I’m envious of the swimmer’s mindset and am excited to watch them compete one last day.
The swimmers are warming up behind me with roughly 30 minutes to go before kicking off day four. Below are the live links for today. I will be checking in periodically after Gustavus’s individual swims.
Lets go Gusties!
10:15 a.m. – Katie Olson will be swimming tonight! Katie finished 14th overall with a time of 51.33 in the 100 freestyle, improving on her seed time of 51.43. Kate Reilly finished 31st overall with a time of 51.97. Coach Lindstrom said after the race was FAST! The staff was very pleased with Katie’s performance against a such a strong field.
We’re off to a good start with one Gustie already moving on to tonight’s finals!!
10:38 a.m. – Hayley Booher just swam the 200 backstroke and finished 22nd overall. The coaches were proud of Hayley’s effort and said it was a much-improved performance compared to her 400 IM yesterday. Congrats to St. Thomas Emma Paulson and Carleton’s Maria Wetzel on moving on to tonight’s finals in the race.
Jenny Strom is next up in the 200 breaststroke. This is Jenny’s race and her time to shine. She will be in heat three swimming in lane four.
11:10 a.m. – The morning is clipping along at a non-stop pace. Jenny Strom just completed her swim in the 200 breaststroke. Although Jenny will not be an All-American in the event, she will be swimming tonight. Strom finished 11th overall with a time of 2:19.19.
The final event of the morning is the 400-free relay. That’s coming up in a little bit.
11:43 a.m. – The Gustavus women’s swimming and diving team will have three swims tonight after the 400-free relay just placed 10th overall with a time of 3:27.32. The coaches said it was a smartly swam race and were happy with all four splits. Once again, the competition was fierce and the event was fast. The team is going through its cool down as the rest of the morning wraps up. I am going to get to work on editing pictures from this morning before heading back to the hotel. I will report back with thoughts on the morning session and a formal recap in a little bit.
12:16 p.m. – I hate this sport.
I’m kidding, of course, but swimming can be heartbreaking. It toys with your emotions and pulls on your heart strings. Despite all that, this is one of the reasons I came to Texas. I wanted to experience first hand what all this sport has to offer. The highs and lows, the hurt and the triumph. Despite the roller coaster of emotions, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than in Shenandoah, Texas with this group of Gusties.
Coach Carlson described the session as, “The morning of almost.” Carlson did the math on our drive from the pool to the hotel and in the three events that Gustavus earned a spot in the consolation finals (100 free, 200 breast, and 400-free relay), the Gusties missed a top eight standing by a combined time of just .65 seconds (.16, .30, .19). JUST UNDER THREE-QUARTERS OF A SECOND! That was the difference!! Katie, Jenny, and the 400-free relay missed out on being All-Americans by literally the blink of an eye.
I hate this sport.
Once again, I’m kidding. Coach Carlson was pleased with how the morning went and said there are just some things in swimming that you can’t control. Right now he is sitting across from me watching the live stream of his women’s tennis team’s match against St. Scholastica currently going on in the Swanson Tennis Center back at Gustavus. He is sitting here texting his assistant coaches. Essentially, he is coaching from Texas. Carlson went from being stressed out beside a pool to stressed out in the hotel room with a computer on his lap.
I am going to get to work on my formal recap from the morning. I will be back this afternoon upon my return to Conroe.
I’d like to conclude this morning’s blog by saying thanks to Carleton head swimming and diving coach Andy Clark for his kind words this morning. To go along with coach Clark’s coaching duties, he is also a member of the NCAA Committee, so he’s actually doing double-time this week. Coach complimented me on the blog and said some very nice things. It is great to see the MIAC teams interact and support each other all week. A lot of swimmers in the MIAC have known each other for their entire careers, so it’s fun to see them laugh and joke together on the deck. Thanks again coach Clark and good luck the rest of the way.
Go Gusties!