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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SWIMMING MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 23, 2015Whitney HiteWHITNEY HITE: Certainly last week's performance was probably the best since I've been here in the four years I've been here. I was really proud of the women. They competed very well. They had a team goal of 400 points, and to score 448, it's pretty amazing. We had the smallest team there as far as numbers, and for us to achieve at that level I thought was darned near perfect. It should give our men confidence that what we do works. They get another extra week of rest. Really excited, I think, the men's program has come a long way since I've been here in four years, and we're looking forward to some really great performances, both individually and relays, as well, and overall team. It's an exciting time. I told you guys about Ivy Martin last week. She made me look like I knew what I was talking about. She's on another level, and just excited to see her get better and go faster at NCAAs. Q. Just looking at the notes that Brandon put together, it's been one of your most successful seasons in program history for the men. What's been the key to that? WHITNEY HITE: Well, I think we're just backing out of the driveway with this. I really believe each year we've gotten better. They're starting to get it. It's the first time that the seniors are‑‑ the first class that's been just with me, and I think that's important, consistency. I've got a great coaching staff. My assistants are as good as any coach in America. So I think that we preach hard work still works, and we preach consistency. You're seeing the development, whether it be Ivy or someone like Madeline Hazle, or really you go down the whole line, everybody gets better, and if you get better your freshman year, your sophomore year, by the time you're a junior and senior you're actually starting to be a pretty good swimmer, someone that scores quite a bit of points. So it does take time. Fortunately we can be patient a little bit. Personally I'm the most impatient person in the world, but I think you're just seeing kind of‑‑ we're just kind of getting the ball rolling, so to speak. Q. One of the things you do on both the women's and men's side is really load up the schedule in the dual meet season and go up against some of the best in the country. How does that prepare you for the men's going into the Big Ten, that kind of grueling dual season schedule? WHITNEY HITE: Sure. I believe in putting athletes in pressure situations. The more times we can do that, the more comfortable they become. Being able to beat Arizona, Minnesota, USC, the men have faced arguably the best teams in the country, or a handful of them at least, and the more times that we are‑‑ that they're counted on to make the last shot, so to speak, the more comfortable they become and the better they get. Their growth, not just in times but as an athlete, and we believe in that, and it shows. This men's team I think is ready to do some pretty great things. I know that the women's ran very well, and the expectation is the men will do just as well or better. Q. Touching back on last week, how would you describe the week that Ivy had out there? Have you ever seen anything like that from an individual at a championship meet? WHITNEY HITE: I've seen some pretty fast women's swimming. My first three years as an assistant at Georgia, we won national championships, and I thought it was easy. I thought that's what you kind of just did. Being around someone like Natalie Coughlin who's perhaps the greatest female swimmer ever, Ivy, although is not as versatile as Natalie, Ivy does some things that not even Natalie can do. Ivy is cheetah quick. She's lightning quick, and for her to be able to put together a meet like she did was pretty special. Every time she dove in, she won, and that's‑‑ the fun thing about her, we talked this morning at 6:00 a.m. at practice, and we talked about‑‑ she asked me what do I need to do to get better because I honestly believe and I know that she believes it, too, that that wasn't her best. Going 20.9, when I got here, we would have recruited guys, men, that were 20.9 in the 50 free, and so she's looking at it and she's saying, okay, what do I need to do to get better, whereas before, she's hoping that she can hold on at NCAAs. We talked about it. I don't think anyone in the history of the Big Ten has gone seven for seven. So she's doing things that no one else has ever done, but I also think that we're just kind of backing out of the driveway, again. She's going to be better. To be the fastest American split on a 50 free, breaking conference and school records and going 21.6 and being disappointed, there's not a lot of people out there that can walk away going, you know, I'm kind of disappointed in that, and that's a good thing. That's what makes her‑‑ again, we're talking about an evolution from going from good to pretty darned good to great to really elite, and it's a process. It's fun to see. Q. People look at she's back in the pool at 6:00 a.m. and she's disappointed after going seven for seven and kind of wonder what's going through her head, not just being at practice at 6:00 a.m. but being as good as she was to win seven off seven and still be disappointed. What does that tell you about her? WHITNEY HITE: Well, she didn't have an option about practice time. I don't know if she's necessarily disappointed. I think that she wanted more. That just shows me that she's dialed in. She wants to be the best, and it's a lot easier to say it than to actually do it, and she knows that she's got some big goals, and she knows that she's going to have to work for them. She embraces just like everybody on the team embraces hard work. One of the best performances we had, if Ivy isn't on the team, Aja Van Hout had an unbelievable championships, and couldn't happen to a better young lady. For her to‑‑ there's no one in my years of coaching that has worked harder than she has, so it was fun for her to‑‑ we've just got a group that they like to work hard, and they like to race. They don't back down from it, whether it's Ivy in the 100 fly going toe‑to‑toe with people from this conference that are elite, as well, and she's tired and maybe not at her best, and she's just out there racing. It's just fun to see that progression for her. Q. You mentioned both of their names, Aja and Ivy. What's the relationship like between those two being former high school teammates? How much do they drive each other and what's the relationship like between the two? WHITNEY HITE: Well, they're both our team captains. They're friends. You know, they've known each other for a really long time, and it is kind of neat to see both of them going out on kind of a really high note. I know that there is competition there, but it's healthy. I do think that they both very much enjoy each other and are good teammates. They're able to hold each other accountable, but also know that there's probably a little bit of a sisterly love just because they've been together so long. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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