TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

Up to this point in the season, recap how everything has gone for your team.
We really came around at the end of the season – we had a really good dual meet against Miami. Then, we followed that up with some solid efforts at the ECAC Championships. Hopefully, that will continue at this weekend’s Mid-American Conference Championships.

Expand upon how important the MAC Championships – which are being held at UB this weekend – are for your team.
As a team, we are pretty young. But we are very talented – and definitely have guys that can move on to the finals and score points. Our primary goal is to improve our finish from last year, but we’d also like to break some school records in the process.

Is there any additional benefit to having the tournament at Alumni Arena?
Obviously, we are used to the pool here. But, it’s not like basketball where there is a significant home court advantage. It will be nice to have it at home though, because families and friends can come watch. Hopefully, we will draw a big crowd throughout the weekend.

Your main stroke is the breaststroke. How much time do you spend working on that as compared to freestyle?
I probably spend more time on the breaststroke. Freestyle is the most basic stroke – so everyone swims that one a lot to get in shape. But once the season begins, you get more focused on an individual stroke. For me, it’s the breaststroke.

How much training is done outside of the pool?
I would say that the bulk of our work is done in the water. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a number of aspects we work on. We do a lot of stretching and mental preparation, as well.

Having grown up is Israel, how did you first consider attending UB to swim?
I first came into contact with (head coach) Budd Termin when I was in the Israeli Air Force. When you finish with high school in Israel, there really isn’t an opportunity to combine academics and athletics in a university setting. Some of my friends had come to the U.S., so I was aware of the possibility. I was especially interested in biotechnology, which is not offered at a lot of universities. Once I spoke with Budd, I knew UB would be a great fit.

Talk about the adjustments you have had to make.
There have been a lot – first of all, the language. I also left my family and friends behind. There also was an adjustment to swimming – Budd was my first new coach in something like 12 years. So, the whole process was exciting, but it definitely took some time to adjust.

How would you compare the swimming programs between the two countries?
The U.S. gives you the opportunity to mix academics and athletics in high school. That isn’t something we have in Israel, so we have to compete on club teams. The benefit of swimming on a club team is that it is a year-round effort. It is hard to compare the two, but I was glad to have competed all year long.

Some of your hobbies include scuba diving and skydiving. How often do you get to practice those and when did you get started with them?
I’ve been scuba diving since I was 15 years old. I grew up near the Red Sea in Israel and I always wanted to try scuba diving. I didn’t try sky diving until about two years ago. The only time I can do either of those now is during the summer. There isn’t any time during the season, so I’m going to have to put off learning how to ski, which is my next goal.

Earlier you spoke about serving in the Israeli Air Force. Detail that experience.
I was a medic in the air force from the age of 18 to 21. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. In the same sense, I’m glad I had the opportunity to get back into swimming. For the first year-and-a-half of my time in the air force, I didn’t get to swim at all. But for the second half of my time, I was based near my club team and I was able to return to swimming.

-The ‘10 Questions with…’ feature is compiled by Geoff Nason.