Alabama’s swimming and diving head coach Eric McIlquham constantly strives for the best for his team in the pool as well as in the classroom. His winning attitude and determination are what set him apart from the average coach.
In his ninth season at the University, the Crimson Tide has had seven top-25 national finishes including back-to-back-to-back top-15 finishes for the men in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
BJ Hornikel, a sophomore freestyle swimmer, admires McIlquham as a coach.
“I think he’s a great coach,” Hornikel said. “He’s really good at motivating all of us. He gets us pumped for meets and practice.”
However, making waves in the pool is not the only thing that McIlquham emphasizes as a coach. Academics remain a top priority to the Alabama swimming and diving team.
“The kids I have are smart kids,” McIlquham said. “That has been an environment that we as a coaching staff implore upon our kids. It’s like anything in life, if you’re going to do it, you need to do it the best that you can possibly do it. That goes both ways; great athletes are that way and the same approach is taken in the classroom.”
The swimming and diving team maintain academic excellence at all times.
“When you look at these kids, they’re practicing 20 hours a week and some are putting in 10 miles a day in the water,” McIlquham said. “They do a great job representing this university. When you’re sitting on a 3.66 GPA for the women and a 3.44 GPA for the men, which is number one and number two overall for all swimming and diving teams in the country, you can really look at it and think ‘Wow that’s pretty good.’”
McIlquham began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the Capstone in 1992 when he had the opportunity to coach Rania Elwani, who McIlquham calls the best athlete in Egypt at the time.
He went on to coach Elwani in the Olympics as an assistant for the Egyptian National Team, and in 2000 he served as the Egyptian head coach in the Olympic games.
Out of the 55 members of UA’s swimming and diving team, nine are international students. McIlquham says the mix of local and international students is a good blend.
Ida Persson, a redshirt senior, is an international student from Ostersund, Sweden. She has worked with Coach McIlquham since arriving to the University.
“He’s been a great coach to me,” Persson said.
She attributes her success to working hard and having a set schedule.
McIlquham hopes that the team will finish in the top three in the Southeastern Conference and in the top 10 nationally. Since it is also an Olympic year, he is hoping to have as many Crimson Tide athletes placed on Olympic teams as possible.
