TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

After swimming at Akron’s Summa Care Invitational last weekend, you get almost six weeks with no competitions before a meet at Canisius on Jan. 12. What does the team work on in those six weeks?
Pretty much what we work on is the same as what we’ve been doing since the start of the year. We try to build up our endurance. What we do is we swim a lot of sprints in the pool, then we also do bio-mechanic workouts, which pretty much gets the most efficiency out of your stroke while you’re swimming so you try to swim at a slower speed, but you get the most force out of the water.

You earned the team’s Most Outstanding Swimmer award last year after winning the consolation finals in the 100 backstroke at the Mid-American Conference championships last year. Are you looking forward to getting a chance to improve on that finish this year?
Actually, I also swam the 200 backstroke and I didn’t swim my fastest time, so I’m looking to go in this year and swim my fastest time at MACs. We had an invite the week before the MACs and I swam my fastest time there, but I’m looking forward to get a chance to really get up in the standings, get in the final heat and score some more points.

One thing that Coach Termin takes great pride in is that swimmers that come to UB will improve on their all-time bests. In your case, especially in the 500 freestyle, where you cut 30 seconds off your time, you have improved. What do you think has helped you improve on your times in college?
I think the biggest thing is in high school where I’m from, swimming is not a big sport and so it’s not as organized. I think, especially the training matrix that Budd uses is very effective at dropping times. It’s much, more organized and Budd’s just an excellent coach.

You swam, and won the 200-yard backstroke after winning the 1,000-yard freestyle against Ball State in your opening meet of the year. How difficult was it for you to come back and swim another 200 yards after swimming just over half a mile earlier in the meet?
It’s usually tough, but I’m used to swimming club where we’ll swim seven events over three days. As far as the endurance, it’s not too bad. Also, it was a guys and girls meet, so there was a lot more time between the 1,000 and 200 than there usually is, so it wasn’t too bad. It was actually quite fun to do it, just to say I did both of them and say I did really good.

Your team has continually kept a GPA above 3.0, including the 3.07 team GPA from the spring semester that was the 21st best in the nation. How much emphasis does the team place on academics as well as swimming?
Budd has always told us that not only is it important for us to swim well, it’s important for us to do well in the classroom because that effects how people see our team. Once a week, usually on Saturday, we talk about what people have done in class that was really good, who’s been to all our classes.

How significant are pool conditions to you as a swimmer? What is the ideal setting for you personally?
As far as pool conditions, we have the best pool conditions that I’ve ever been to. Pools really just have lane lines and starting blocks, but when you get a nice setting like this where you get it all to yourself when you’re training and you have lots of room and you don’t have to cram 10 swimmers in a lane, it’s really nice.

You got the chance to swim at the YMCA Nationals when you were in high school. What was that experience like for you?
I would say that was probably my greatest experience later in college. We had a few swimmers when I was growing up that went to nationals and that was a huge deal, so I always strove to make it there. When I finally did, it was great. I got to see some of the fastest swimmers in the nation.

Coming from Michigan, what got you interested in Coach Termin’s program and made you decide to swim at UB?
It’s actually kind of an interesting story because my coach that coached for my senior year, he swam for Budd when Budd was an assistant coach at Kansas. He got me hooked up with the whole idea of Budd’s training matrix and that’s how I got interested in Buffalo.

You list Lance Armstrong as your favorite athlete. Do you think he will try to get his eighth Tour De France Championship in 2006?
I actually think he’s done. He said a few times, he was going for his seventh and now that he did it, he’s done. It’d be nice to see, but I think he’s done.

What has been your favorite moment as a UB student-athlete?
My favorite moment as a UB student-athlete is being able to put on blue-and-white and being able to walk around campus and knowing that we represent this school and people look up to us. That’s been my best experience.

“The 10 Questions With…” feature is compiled by Joe Guistina.