University of Richmond Athletics
Six-Time Defending A-10 Champ Women's Swimming Opens Saturday At Duke
10/19/2007 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Oct. 19, 2007
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - On the heels of the team's sixth-consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship, third-year swimming coach Matt Barany sat down with RichmondSpiders.com to discuss his thoughts on the upcoming season. The Spiders, who were a preseason pick to defend their title, open the 2007-08 at Duke on Saturday.
Also Saturday, All-American Jessica Witt competes in the Open Water 10K World Championship in Ft. Myers, Fla. with a chance at a spot in the Summer Olympics.
You're entering your third year at Richmond, and you've been able to maintain the Spiders' dominance in the A-10. What have been the keys for you to keep that going?
Every season is different. Fortunately, the last six seasons have ended with a Richmond swim team winning an A-10 championship. I think there are two deep-rooted features of the team that helps us find success each year. The women and flexible and have adjusted to change -- coaching changes, transfers, new groups of freshmen, construction, travel predicaments -- extremely well. Secondly, they work hard daily. It's their way of reacting to any change and their way of securing their legacy as a successful group. I think both of the "keys" are lessons that will last even past their swimming careers.
How difficult is it to maintain the level of success Richmond Swimming has enjoyed?
I think this is a question for the women. They have to do the work; Katy (Peterson), Jay (DeMayo) and I only guide and support the athletes. Recruiting is where the coaches can make a big impact. This year we are receiving considerably more interest nationally than we did the first two seasons. This excites us because it means the word about the University of Richmond is spreading. The A-10 is somewhat a mystery to us. We see the other A-10 schools once during the season and that's in Buffalo at the championship meet. It appears that UMASS has taken up the charge to knock Richmond off. We welcome tighter competition at the A-10 meet.
What are your team's goals in 2007-08?
We don't create a list of team goals; we focus on individual improvement with the understanding that if we all improve, the quality of our program improves. It's understood that our focus is the A-10 meet and winning the seventh championship. We also intend to take a group to NCAA's and score more than we have in the past. I think we have the capacity to have three individual scorers and potentially a relay score at NCAA's. This would be quite a feat for a school and program of our size. We're up to that challenge.
You have a great nucleus of swimmers returning in Jessica Witt, Lauren Beaudreau and Katie Sieben. Talk about how you see them leading the team this season.
You're right, they make up the nucleus. But with a small team, we're going to rely on all of the women to contribute. Our season is a long one, so we have time to establish all the women in roles they feel comfortable with. Jessica trains with a group of freshmen and she will model her great training ethic for them. It's rare for a group of freshmen to start their careers following the lead of an All-American. Lauren ended her summer on a high note and I don't think her focus has waned. Lauren may be on the most technically sound swimmers I have coached and this is a function of her ability to focus on drills. If Lauren stays focused, she can have a very satisfying season. Katie and sophomore Alex Helland have lost the nervous glaze of being freshmen. They have had 12 months of training under our style and the freshmen anxiety has turned to a determined, strong attitude. The freshmen will be able to tap into the lessons learned from all four of these ladies.
All three of them enjoyed very successful summers. How much does the success in the summer translate into the following collegiate season?
They did have successful summers - now it's up to them to translate it. We stay away from loading pressure on any swimmer; instead, we try to foster the growth of confidence. I think the four that stayed have grown more confident in their abilities, and we'll wait and see if it translates.
Talk about your newcomers and the expectations you have for this group.
We have eight upperclassmen and seven freshmen. The freshmen have a bubbly attitude and sound work ethic. It's important for them to take it one step at a time. The upperclassmen have the experience to guide the young energetic freshmen. It's important that our freshmen get off to a great start academically - so much of a freshman's happiness and confidence at Richmond is determined by their first semester in the classroom. We strongly believe that academic success begets athletic success...we'll see. If we smoothly navigate first semester, we think the A-10 will be impressed by our freshmen. We will rely on every swimmer and the freshmen will be counted on heavily.
You continue to challenge your team with a very competitive schedule, building up to the A-10 Championship. How do you feel about this year's schedule and what are your expectations?
It's difficult to schedule teams for two reasons: we are a women's only team and our facility is smaller than most. We accept this and we travel to many away meets. It's fine with us -- the women perform well away from Richmond. We have teams from the ACC, Big East, and the CAA on our schedule. It's going to be very difficult to win many of these meets because we are missing our divers so we'll forfeit substantial points. We're going to race teams that will help us prepare to win A-10's and perform well at NCAA's. Very few "mid-major" swim teams swim a schedule as difficult as ours. It helps us grow!
