University of Richmond Athletics
Coach Barany Q&A Previews The 2010-11 Swimming & Diving Season
10/08/2010 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Oct. 8, 2010
SpiderTV Preview | 2010-11 Roster | 2010-11 Schedule | 2010-11 Quick Facts
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - The Richmond swimming & diving team opens its 2010-11 campaign Saturday afternoon, battling Old Dominion and UNC-Wilmington in Norfolk, Va. Under sixth-year head coach Matt Barany, the Spiders have 13 letterwinners returning and welcome eight new freshmen to the squad.
Following the tri-meet at ODU, the Spiders are home to entertain Georgia Southern next Saturday at 1 p.m. Richmond's other home meet is set for Jan. 29 versus James Madison.
The Spiders have captured a league-record eight Atlantic 10 Championships, but are coming off a runner-up finish to Fordham at last season's Championship.
To preview the 2010-11 season, RichmondSpiders.com sat down with Coach Barany for a Q&A:
Q: You're opening the season earlier than year's past. How does this effect your preseason training? Is it a positive?
A: Starting the season earlier than in the past allows us to rinse the taste of our last meet out of our mouths sooner. We don't consider this portion of our season "pre." I am detail-oriented and we're making sure we're developing habits now to be applied in the championship phase of our season.
Q: Talk about your captains and tell us why they have been selected to that role?
A: The captainship is a work in progress. I expect Chrissy Brodt, Nicole LePere and Natalie Lewis to grow into the role. Being a captain is a distinctive honor, but leading a team after they have lost a championship requires skill. These ladies have smiles and the skill is still developing.
Q: Your schedule in 2010-11 is a bit different than past seasons and includes two home meets. Talk about your schedule and how your approach it leading up to February.
A: From a training standpoint, our October schedule is perfect. Rather than racing in practice and trying to simulate race situations, we're actually competing against other teams. We see many CAA teams in October alone. It will be fun to tour Virginia and compete against our mid-major neighbors and former rivals.
Q: This is a new year and a new team, but how will you use last year's A-10 finish as a motivating factor this season?
A: I haven't figured this teams' personality yet. They have exposed some of their talent in practice, but ultimately I have no idea if we're any good. If we scored points for laughing or smiling, this group would be hard to beat. Natalie (Lewis) would win by herself.
Q: The A-10 is obviously becoming more competitive. What are the things that you do to keep the Spiders among the Championship contenders?
A: We don't really discuss Fordham or the A-10 - maybe we should. The caliber of swimmer in the A-10 is getting better because schools are investing more towards women's swimming scholarships. I'd love to see the A-10 send multiple women to the NCAA meet, but last year nobody represented the A-10. There are swimmers in our conference who could make the NCAA meet - we have three or four.
Q: Introduce us to your new diving coach Erika Matheis.
A: Erika's presence has been a lift. I love her youth; it's been an asset instead of an obstacle. We have two divers and we're actively recruiting many more. Thanks to Erika, we're becoming a more well-rounded roster.
Q: On paper you have an impressive group of freshmen coming in. Tell us about the "unknown" of an incoming class and what are you expectations of this group?
A: Our freshmen are unproven. They will have time to grow in the shadows of Nicole, Charlotte and Lauren. Charlotte was the best swimmer at the A-10 meet in February and Lauren was Rookie of the Year. The upperclassman will bear most of the burden until the freshmen are ready to "walk." At this point, I see up-side to each freshmen. I don't see a singular dominate star. Perhaps this is the most thrilling feature of the freshmen class.
