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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SWIMMING MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 22, 2016

Whitney Hite

THE MODERATOR: The men's swimming and diving team heads to Lafayette. Badgers are led by Matt Hutchins, the defending Big Ten Champion in 500 yard freestyle and currently ranks No. 2 nationally in the 1650 free. All four days of the championship can be seen live on BTN Plus.

Head coach Whitney Hite is here.

COACH HITE: We're excited to be heading off to Purdue this week. The men's team has had a very good season. I think we're very strong in some areas and looking to kind of continue our upward swing as far as our places in Big Ten Championships. It's fun to see them, the team kind of mature and grow. They are super competitive.

I enjoy being in the Big Ten because you have teams like Michigan and Indiana that are perennially in the top ten. Michigan has won National Championships and have a very, very good coaching staff, both Indiana and Michigan. That's who we're aiming for. We're not quite there yet, but we're a heck of a lot more competitive than we have been in the past.

That's really kind of our focus on making sure that we compete, making sure that we get the right people to the meet. The NCAA Championship's our next ultimate step in making sure that we're doing everything we need to do to ensure success at the right time.

Q. Matt kind of broke out on the team last year with his championship in the 500 freestyle. What do you see from him now this year? What are you expecting from him as he's top five nationally in all the events he swims in?
COACH HITE: Matt continues to improve. It's been really fun to watch. A lot of times, when you watch him swim, it looks like he's not really trying because he's so smooth. Then you look at the time, and you're thinking, man, this kid is really moving.

To say I'm surprised that going into last weekend he had the top time in the mile in the nation, not really surprised, a little bit, but I do know that the sky's the limit on that kid. He works really hard. I've really had to kind of re-evaluate how I coach and some of the sets that I've given him. So he's challenged me in that way.

I feel like we're one of the hardest working teams in the country, and everything I give him, he eats up and spits out and just keeps on going. So it's a joy for me to coach him.

He will not be completely 100 percent rested. That's by design. He's got NCAAs, since he's already made his "A" cut and he's already going to the meet, we expect him to still compete. He's harder on himself than anybody. I would expect that he'll be in some races, and we're hoping that he can get to the wall first, but if not, it's not a tragedy. We know that NCAAs is his main focus and then his Olympic trials just after NCAAs.

Q. What was it like having diving incorporated now in points scoring last week for the Big Ten Championships for the women and now again for the men here? What's that been like with what Anton has brought to your program?
COACH HITE: It's been really great. Anton, I've said all along, I think he's one of the best diving coaches in the country, and I really appreciate his efforts. I think that he's seen the fruits of his labor, so to speak, building the program.

Women's, as I said before, the diving was the difference between sixth and seventh for us, and that's a good thing. It's nice to have that support, swimming and diving, and I think we're finally at a point where it's the Wisconsin swimming and diving team, and that means a lot to me and the program.

The men have opportunities to do very well, and that's an exciting thing for us. You never want one or the other. It's like track and field. You don't want necessarily the field events carrying the track events and vice versa. You'd like everybody to score. So I think it's an exciting time, and we're looking forward to what they can do.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit more about Cannon Clifton, and is it Austin Byrd? They've had a couple of nice seasons and could contend this weekend.
COACH HITE: I would add Brett Pinfold into that mix as well. Austin Byrd is from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He's a big kid. He's, again, a really great example of a Wisconsinite coming to school in Madison and doing really well. He works hard and does the right things. He's improved every year. I believe, as a senior, he's going to step up and make NCAAs and go out on a really high note. There's no indication why he wouldn't. He's swum well all year.

Cannon and Brett are from Texas. I kind of stole them away from Texas a couple of years ago. Again, those good out of high school, but great now. Again, I wouldn't be surprised that they do very, very well making the NCAAs individually and really have an impact at NCAAs. It's one thing to be one of the top 30 in the country, but it's another to be one of the top 16 in scoring, and I think both those guys can do that.

Cannon has really been a rock for us, not only on relays, but individual. He wants to be a sprinter. We've been training him more as a mid distance. Everyone wants to be a sprinter. I'm sure Matt Hutchins wants to be a sprinter. But he's versatile as far as he's going to lead off our 800 free relay, but we expect him to place very high individually in the 50 and the 100 free.

Brett Pinfold is one of the most versatile swimmers in the country. He can swim freestyle. He can swim IM. He can swim backstroke. If we needed him to, he could probably do a little bit of butterfly. He really -- we can plug him in in a lot of different areas, and he is really, really good. So excited to see that.

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