Coach Troy Reviews Georgia Tech Victory, Previews Florida Atlantic Dual Meet
Monday, January 10, 2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
University of Florida head coach Gregg Troy addressed the media Monday morning as part of the Gators' All-Sports Media Day.
Coach Troy shared his thoughts about last weekend's dual meet vs. Georgia Tech, the upcoming dual meet vs. Florida Atlantic, and several of the Gator swimmers.
TRANSCRIPT
Opening Statement:
“We completed a really good fall. We had a short break and went home at Christmas. We came back last week and had an opportunity to swim Georgia Tech. We swam a good team from the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), and it gave us a chance to see where we were after the break and knock some of the rust off. The rest of this month becomes very important for us. This week we have eight guys going to Dallas to swim in the Dallas Classic against five other really good teams. It's eight of our more-accomplished men, so it becomes a guide to see how they're going to handle high-level competition. The entire women's team and the remaining men will swim against Florida Atlantic here (Gainesville) on Saturday. All those competitions now this time of year, we're just trying to figure out what events we're best prepared for and what people are going to go to the conference meet. It's all about getting ready for a championship at this point in the season.”
On the win over Georgia Tech:
“We were kind of mixed emotions after last Saturday's meet. We would have liked to be a whole lot better. We were good in spots and then a little rocky (in others), which is relative to this time of year and the (Christmas) break. It's the first time of the year we had our entire men's team together. With injuries and operations medically, we had a few men that did not swim last fall. Because of some women scenarios, we didn't have the entire women's team together. It's the first time we had everyone together to swim. We showed a lot more depth. Some of our freshmen looked really good. I think they did a great job when they went home over Christmas. Some of our older athletes actually looked really fatigued. I think we had a really good Christmas training. Some of our better athletes have been out of the water for six weeks. In December, they did the best job of training they have ever done, and they were very conscientious of what they did when they went home for a week. I think we're a little fatigued, but we have a lot of rough edges to knock off in the next few meets.”
On junior Shara Stafford:
“She's had a tremendous fall. She's the key to what we do with the women.”
On freshman Ellese Zalewski:
“Ellese has done a tremendous job. She came to school as a very good Australian as an age grouper. Her background is very similar to Gemma Spofforth. She has tremendous tools. At the last meet in December, more than anyone else, stood up and competed at an entirely different level. She picked that up beginning this semester. She could be real key for what we do; she's very versatile. She could be a key swimmer for what we do in the relays.”
On the Florida Atlantic dual meet:
“We're going to experience with some off events, like their third and fourth event, just to see where they're at in a continuation of last week. We're very versatile, so we want to see the athletes in a couple of different places and decide what the best events are. They're going to swim a different slate than what they did last week.”
