As one swimmer dives into the pool, he is racing for more than just individual glory. He is trying to bring his school its first 200-meter medley relay championship in the program’s history.
When his teammate touches the wall, junior Kristian Gkolomeev dives in, trying to catch up with the two opponents in front of him. It didn’t take Gkolomeev long to take complete control of the race as the anchor of the relay team.
“I see him [Gkolomeev] and he is third diving in,” said junior Connor Oslin. “He is second at the wall after that and he has a really good turn, so when he pops up, he is catching the Cal guy and I am like, ‘Oh my gosh, we are going to win this thing.’ I just knew.”
The relay team of Oslin, junior Pavel Romanov, sophomore Luke Kaliszak and Gkolomeev won the first 200-meter medley relay title in school history after a blazing performance by Gkolomeev in the final split.
On March 26, Alabama’s swimming and diving made history when the men’s team finished in sixth place at the NCAA Championships, its highest finish since 1983. The moment was met with overwhelming joy and pride, but those familiar with the program knew this accomplishment didn’t happen overnight.
When head coach Dennis Pursley accepted the offer to be Alabama’s head swimming and diving coach in 2012, he knew changes had to be made.
“It was more of a fragmented team,” Pursley said. “We have tried to pull all of the training groups together and have more of a team approach to our training routine and our training program and put a bigger emphasis on the team concept.”
When Pursley arrived, he immediately started to implement new ideas to try and improve the team aspect that he mentioned. He wanted to bring the program closer together, to try and elevate them to one of the better programs in the SEC.
While his first year was not the most successful (they finished last in the conference), he said that team was instrumental in making the program what it is today.
“To their credit, that first year team, it is never perfect and it never will be, but we strive for perfection, and they bought in,” he said. “They really made that commitment and those changes and didn’t see the immediate results, but as I said, they laid the foundation.”
From there, the culture around the program started to change. Players took the commitment and teamwork seriously. While swimming is predominantly an individual sport, the team started to realize that they needed each other to succeed.
As the talent surrounding the program improved, so did the camaraderie. Kristian Gkolomeev, a national champion in the 50-meter freestyle, said the new coaching staff came in and completely changed the style of the team.
“I think that [culture change] is because of the new coaching staff,” he said. “Dennis Pursley and [associate head coach] Jonty Skinner did an amazing job when they came here. We are like a team. Attitude and commitment, this is what we are all about.”
The new focus on teamwork and attitude yielded better team results. Just two years after finishing in the last spot of the Southeastern Conference, Alabama climbed six spots in the SEC standings and 16 spots in the national standings, finishing 10th in the country.
Both the men’s and women’s teams broke a combined 21 school records in that season. The men’s team was named the “Break-Out Team” of the year by College Swimming & Diving Honors program.
The team entered this season with the mindset that it could climb even higher. The team finished 12th in 2013-2014 and 10th in 2015-2016. With a lot of talent coming back from both of those teams, the athletes knew this year was their time to take it to the next level.
“That was actually our goal this year, was to be up that high,” Kaliszak said. “It went according to plan. We just had to race every race with everything we got and put everything on the line. We had to get behind each other as a team and do it for the guys.”
While the team believed in the change that coach Pursley brought with him when he was hired, the swimmers still had to perform. Pursley wants his team to be the loudest on the pool deck. In his eyes, what was going to propel them to the top of the NCAAs rankings was something beyond swimming a fast time.
“I think the guys really care about one another, but the real energetic, vocal cheering and support and so on, it makes a big difference when your teammates are showing that kind of support,” he said. “We do a good job, but you can always get better.”
The team hit its stride at NCAAs. After finishing 10th in 2015, the program clinched its first back-to-back top 10 finishes since ‘85-’86. The program showed that it can contend with the top programs.
After finishing fourth at the SEC Championships, this team knew it could finish higher than a lot of its conference opponents. Alabama’s historic finish had the Crimson Tide looking down on many traditional powerhouses, including arch-rival Auburn. Kaliszak said beating the Tigers made the finish even better.
“I cannot tell you how sweet it tastes,” he said. “It is so great because they have been, historically, a powerhouse and they went on a run a while ago of winning national championships left and right. Now, they are kind of falling off, and we’re on the rise.”
One of the bigger moments of the meet came when the 200-meter medley relay team captured the program’s first ever relay title.
The whole team exploded as Gkolomeev touched the wall at 1:22.28, which is just a hundredth of a second away from tying the all-time NCAA record. Gkolomeev’s portion of the race clocked in at a 18.00, breaking the school record for fastest relay split.
Romanov believes the national championship for him and his three teammates was just a product of the everyone knowing their role.
“I was happy that the hard work we did paid off,” he said. “Honestly, the whole team works very hard. Like every individual on the team works hard even though some guys went to NCAAs and some guys didn’t. The whole team environment was hard working and that whole team environment positioned us to win this relay.”
The historic win for Romanov and his teammates was something that they had been working to achieve the entire season. Gkolomeev was the only teammate to have already won a national championship, but he said this one was even sweeter because they accomplished it together.
Now the three teammates will see their names added to Alabama’s banner of national champions, right under their anchor, Gkolomeev.
For Alabama, the historic victory and team placement is only a stepping stone for years to come. Pursley and many of the athletes want this team to establish itself as a national powerhouse.
“The way the team sees it right now is this is just another step forward,” Kaliszak said. “This another thing we gotta do and now we have to use the momentum to move past it and go even higher.”
