The Alabama swimming and diving program has long awaited the upcoming national championships. The meets come at the end of a six-month season, but Alabama will be able compete at a level they haven’t seen in over a decade.
The women’s team will send eight athletes to its championships Thursday to Friday in Minneapolis, Minn., the most for that team since 2003. On the men’s side, nine swimmers will compete in Austin, Texas, from March 27 to 29, up from the single performance by current senior BJ Hornikel last season and more than Alabama has sent in over 10 years.
Coach Dennis Pursley’s rebuilding project, two years in, achieved a benchmark performance at the conference championships, but that same success might prove to be the team’s biggest challenge.
(See also “Alabama swimming and diving team head coach suspended for 2 meets“)
“We came off conference championships that, I have to say, exceeded our expectations,” Pursley said. “Given the swimmers we have on our team and the talent level we have, they really punched over their weight. There’s a plus-side and a down-side to that. It helps to build confidence and enthusiasm, but the potential downside is that you’re tempted to be satisfied with what you’ve accomplished to that point. We’ve done everything we can to keep from falling into that trap mentally and physically, but that’s easier said than done.”
Pursley said determination will save the team from complacency.
“We sacrifice everything during the season, unlike some other teams that will ‘come up for air,’ so to speak, along the way,” Pursley said. “Our philosophy is to put all of our eggs in the championship basket at the end. To do that, we sacrifice performances on the way because we don’t want to deviate from our focus on the championship competitions. This is what it’s all about for us.”
Alabama’s squad will be one of the youngest in the competition. For the men, freshmen Anton McKee, Kristian Golomeev, Connor Oslin and Pavel Romanov all qualified for individual events. With such youth in the squad, the leadership of Hornikel, Alabama’s lone returning finalist, will be essential.
“You always have to have someone competing at the level that the team aspires to,” Pursley said. “[Hornikel] has really been the only one that’s been in that situation. I think it helps build the confidence across the board.”
(See also “Alabama swimming and diving team celebrates seniors“)
In particular among that young crop, the team will look to McKee, who broke the conference record in the 200 breaststroke at the conference meet.
“[McKee] swam as close to a perfect race in the SECs as I’ve ever seen,” Pursley said. “You rarely see that from veterans, much less rookies and much less rookies who have only been specializing in breaststroke for a year. It’s a big ask to even repeat that performance but he’s exceeded expectations every step of the way and we hope he has one more performance left in him.”
A major emphasis of the resurgence of the program has been the development of a team spirit, and Pursley’s philosophy is beginning to pay dividends as the women chase a top-25 finish.
“I think that’s something that’s made the biggest difference on our team, even on the performance side,” junior Kaylin Burchell said. “We’re all so much closer and taking the approach that this is a D-1, college, SEC team.”
The men will have their focus on a top-10 finish, a goal they set more than six months ago and one they feel is unacceptable to miss.
“We have it posted in our locker room,” junior and team captain Phil Deaton said. “For SECs it was top 5, and on the same sign, it says top 10 nationally. Below that, it says ‘No excuses.’”
(See also “Women’s swimming and diving team defeats FSU in 1st home meet“)
