Associate Head Coach Martyn Wilby Recaps All Florida Invitational, Previews Virginia Dual Meet
Monday, October 4, 2010 | Men's Swimming & Diving
With head coach Gregg Troy out of town, University of Florida associate head coach Martyn Wilby addressed the media Monday morning as part of the Gator's All Sports Media Day.
Coach Wilby shared his thoughts on last weekend's season-opening All-Florida Invitational, where the Gators competed at home for the first time since 2003 and defeated six other in-state schools. 2010 NCAA Male Swimmer of the Year Conor Dwyer and freshman Olympian Elizabeth Beisel led the way for the Gators with eight event victories each.
He then talked this week's home meet, when the Gators play host to defending ACC Champion Virginia on Monday, Oct. 11, at 1 p.m.
Coach Wilby also discussed and fielded questions about the biggest challenges Virginia presents, on the inaugural All-Florida Invitational, on swimming at home to start the season, on Dwyer's late start in the sport of swimming and on Florida All-American Teresa Crippen swimming against her All-American sister, Claire, this weekend.
CLICK HERE to view Coach Wilby's participation at Monday's press conference, or visit the GatorVision Online section located along the bottom on the swimming & diving home page to view previous media appearances. Below is a transcript from Wilby's press conference:
Wilby's Press Conference 10/4/10
On the All-Florida Invitational:
“The NCAA meet is a unique experience. It's a three-day swim meet; there is no margin for error. What we tried to create with the All Florida Invitational this weekend was the same format as the NCAA. Only three swimmers were allowed to go through to the finals from each team. You might be the fourth fastest in the actual event, but if three swimmers from your team are ahead of you, you don't get to swim finals. It gave the freshmen a chance to find out exactly what it is like being in that format. It also gave us as coaches a chance to evaluate them in that environment. I think that they handled it really well. It was a long weekend. I think that on the men's side, we were missing a couple of swimmers on international duty in India, but I think we saw the versatility of Conor Dwyer. We saw some good freshmen, like Connor Signorin. But also, swimmers there are starting to make a move for their places. Matthew Norton had a great weekend. Michael Yuan had a great weekend. Rodion Davelaar has improved so much since he came to school. He's going to be a big part of the men's team. On the women's side, obviously, Teresa Crippen is a world-class athlete, along with Elizabeth Beisel. Jamie Bohunicky had a solid weekend. We also saw some freshmen step up. Patricia Regan was very good. Alicia Mathieu had a great mile yesterday afternoon. I think the meet itself accomplished what we set out to do, which was put them in that NCAA environment right off the bat and let us see how they could handle it.”
On the dual meet vs. Virginia:
“Next week we swim ACC champion, Virginia. It's back to the regular format. It should be a great meet. They approach training similar to us. It's always been a great dual meet. I think we have swim for six-straight years. I'm looking forward to nothing really changing there.”
On Florida's team vs. Virginia's team:
“I think where they're strong, we're strong. Where we're weak, there're weak. It's very much going back to that heads-up in racing. It's early, so we are going to have to sit down and decide what swimmers we are going to swim and what events. But, also looking at the long picture, we can't just keep swimming the same events week after week. We've got to show some versatility. Conor Dwyer didn't swim the 200 freestyle this weekend individually and swam events we probably wouldn't be swimming at dual meets. That's where he stepped up.”
On the possibility of the All Florida Invitational becoming an annual event:
“I think as Florida coaches we couldn't have been happier with how it worked out. There was a sense of urgency in prelims from the athletes. It didn't quite have the SEC atmosphere, but there was certainly more atmosphere than there was normally for our first swim meet of the year. The feedback we got from the other coaches was very positive, so I would like to see us continue it. It was good. There are a lot of logistics that go into having a home swim meet. Questions from the freshmen: where do we sit, what do we do? So we were able to answers those questions and still give them the feeling of this is what it's going to be like when we go to SECs and NCAAs, where you have got to be prepared for this.”
On senior Conor Dwyer:
“Conor (Dwyer) has come a long, long way in 12 months. He is now on the national team, but he is still at a relatively young swimming age. It's a matter of continuing that progression. Everything he has done is kind of like a first. He goes to his first nationals, 12-13 months ago. He swims twice at nationals; that's a first for him. Going to the NCAA meet and winning and it still being your first time going to the swim meet, is a big accomplishment. This summer, there's a little pressure on him because now people are starting to know his name. Making the national team for the first time is a great accomplishment. The challenge for him this year is people are looking to him for leadership and guidance. That's a challenge for him.”
On junior All-American Teresa Crippen swimming against her sister Claire for Virginia:
“Teresa and Claire are about as close as sisters as I have ever seen. They swim the same events. It's really unique for the family. I think the whole family is coming in for it. I will share a story from NCAAs last year: I stood with some parents. Claire, swimming in the first heat (the heat before Teresa, same event), swims it really tough and comes on really well. A parent stood there and said, 'That Crippen girl, she's really tough.' Teresa gets up and wins the very next heat, the same way Claire did. He said 'That whole Crippen family is really tough.' So, I fully expect probably Claire and Teresa to be next to each other next Monday swimming the same events. They are competitive with it, but they have a lot of fun with it.”
