Looking at the Alabama men’s swimming and diving team, one might notice the high number of foreign swimmers on the team. The men’s team has seven swimmers who are from another country, from Hungary to France and Romania to Greece.
These swimmers provide the team with great performances in the pool. Senior Catalin Cosma is no exception to this trend of good swimmers from outside the United States. He holds the team’s second-fastest time for the 500 Freestyle (4:16.57), fourth-fastest time for the 1,650 Freestyle (14:57.43) and the sixth-fastest time for the 1,000 Freestyle (9:04.90).
Cosma was born and raised in Arad, Romania. Catalin first came to the United States at age 19 for his freshman year at Alabama. He admitted there was a difference in how he trained for meets as he made the transition from swimming in high school to swimming in college.
“There were some things that changed,” Cosma said. “The practices are more intense, but the results are reflected in the meets.”
The swimming and the tradition associated with the team were key reasons why Cosma came to the U.S. and, more importantly, the Crimson Tide, but those were not the only reasons he chose Alabama.
“The swimming facility and the coaching staff sold me on attending Alabama,” Cosma said.
Cosma’s impact on the team was clearly seen through his swims in Alabama’s last meet against Auburn, where he played a key part in the Tide’s victory. This win against Auburn marks the first time Alabama has beaten Auburn since the 1992-1993 season.
Cosma placed first place in all three events, posting a time of 4:33.01 in the 500 Free, 9:26.90 in the 1,000 Free and a time of 3:32.34 in the 800 Free Relay, which posted a total time of 6:43.83. He could not deny the fact that he was happy when he saw the 133-110 score in the Tide’s favor posted on the scoreboard after the meet.
“It made me happy,” Cosma said. “It felt like we accomplished something and showed that what we were doing in practice is good. It is also showing us that we are currently on the right track for a good season this year.”
Heading into the Auburn meet last week, Cosma stated that there was no extra effort put into training for the meet, but he acknowledged how motivated he was and how he kept his focus on the SEC and NCAA championships.
After the victory, Cosma emphasized how important the victory is, in terms of beating an in-state rival and boosting the confidence of the team.
“It was really important,” Cosma said. “I felt a shift in the tide and believe we have a really good team this season.”
Despite the monumental win against Auburn, Cosma insists his personal expectations have not changed.
“I still want to perform well at SECs and eventually score at NCAAs,” Cosma said.
After placing first in all three of his events in the victory over Auburn, Cosma can’t help but feel optimistic about this season. Cosma and the Tide’s next test will be at the Alabama Aquatic Center this Saturday at 1 p.m. against another SEC opponent, LSU, in the “Power of Pink” meet.
