Alabama swimming and diving coach Eric McIlquham has led his team to multiple top-25 finishes and broken numerous records during his nine-year tenure. With the team coming off a strong performance at the Southeastern Conference Championships, McIlquham discussed what he has learned over the course of the season and how he is preparing the team moving forward.
The Crimson White: What are some of the things you learned from the SEC Championships?
Eric McIlquham: I’m pleased with how everybody raced. All the kids stepped up and swam much faster than they have all season and all of them swam fast times. So, you know we can put 25 new entries into our top ten all-time lists which is nice, and then, we got bunch of our NCAA cuts, so it’s kind of the progression that we are looking for. And you know our whole course of the year we have been focusing on our conference meet and the NCAA meet, and that was our first big step so I was really pleased with how they raced and competed.
CW: What is your main goal for the team moving forward?
EM: I mean, obviously, we are just looking to see how many kids that we can get qualified for the NCAA Championships and its kind of, there is no set time that you know you do this and you are in. They basically take the top 22 guys in the country, and then, they’ll take the top 30 girls in the country in each event, and in the relays, they only take the top 12 relays in the country. Most of the championships are finishing up this weekend. We’ll have a really good idea where we are with our athletes at the end of this weekend.
CW: Who do you think is primed to have a breakout performance heading toward the NCAAs?
EM: You look at BJ Hornikel, he had a tremendous meet, you know, and he is only a sophomore, and then, swimming in some of those so-called big-boy events, the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle. And to be able to pull off two second-place finishes in those events, it was pretty impressive right there. So, we are looking for him moving forward on the NCAAs and, you know, going [in the] top eight at NCAAs.
CW: With such a young team, how do you make sure everyone is mentally prepared nearing the NCAAs?
EM: Well, I mean, it’s a learning curve for all of us, and a lot of these kids have national and international experience coming in, so they have been tested pretty well prior to coming in here, but nothing really prepares you for the SEC Championships until you are there, because it’s a very high, high energy, high pressure situations. So, it’s one of those things you know, and obviously, our sophomores did better than our freshmen, but our freshmen still did a pretty good job at handling the pressure.
CW: You were a psychology major while at Oakland University. How have you used what you learned in psychology to motivate or improve the team?
EM: I mean, I was a psychology major there, and I was also a history major and I got my physiology master’s degree here. So, it’s a combination of the mind and the body and trying to make it all work. Each kid is different, so what might motivate one person might not motivate the person sitting right next to them in the pool, so it’s just a matter of getting to know your athletes and really understanding what buttons to push and to get them to that next level.
