2006-07 SDW vs. Princeton -- Quotes
11/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Head Coach Jim Richardson
On todays meet "I thought we swam well coming off of the meet last night. We had some people who were running on fumes today and swam really well last night, but did not have much left in the tank today. I thought emotionally we were very good. I thought we stayed engaged with the meet. When people had the opportunity to step up and swim, especially some kids that really needed to really put in some swims prior to the Texas A&M meet, I thought they did a great job."
On senior Lindsey Smith "Lindsey is swimming very solid right now. She is a solid swimmer and she knows what she wants to do in her races. She takes the energy that she has available and uses it wisely in the race. She wasn't pressed very much in any race today but still put in some very solid times. If we keep her healthy, I think she can have a good meet in College Station."
On junior Justine Muellers battle in the 400-yard individual medley "It was a really important race for Justine because Alicia Aemisegger is the top freshman in the country this year hands down. There isn't anybody at any school who is close to her and she is a great four-stroke athlete. It was a good challenge for Justine because she needed to work on her backstroke to stay close. And her breaststroke and Alicia's breaststroke were fairly comparable. Alicia is just a bit stronger in the freestyle than Justine right now, but I thought it was a really good race for Justine. She needed to have somebody like Alicia to help her work on the front half of her race so that event was very positive."
On the performance of this seasons freshman class "They are all doing a great job in the meets and in training. The big plus is that we are seeing them step up to a higher level in training. By the time they get to the end of the week, they are a little fatigued but the things we saw earlier in the week were better than we have seen all year long with them. This just tells us what kind of potential they all have and as they adjust to this kind of training with the intensity and speed of it, they are going to be players in this program. We are going to need to count on them at Big Tens and there are three or four that are going to qualify for NCAAs, individually or on relays."
Head Diving Coach Chris Bergre
On all of the divers progress so far this season ... "I can't tell you how happy I am with my women's team. All of my upperclassmen are just doing a fantastic job. These past two weeks have been so exciting in practice because they are really turning it on. I thought they were a bit flat on Friday against Ohio State, but they came back and did well on the one-meter. They are all just doing a great job."
On the platform dive ... "I am glad we got the platform off this early in the season because it is an important scoring event at the Big Ten Championships. I have two or three girls that are in contention in being finalists in that event and will definitely score. It's also an NCAA qualifying event so it's important that we get a couple under our belts so we become comfortable."
On junior diver Elyse Lee ... "She is further along than she was last year at this time. She is diving with a lot of confidence. You can tell with the way she is moving and she is comfortable with the dives she is doing right now that she is in great shape."
Junior diver Elyse Lee
On posting all of U-M's top diving scores this season ... "The winning is a bonus. I pretty much go dive by dive and hopefully I can capitalize and make each dive better and better. And if you end up having the top score, it's a bonus."
On the platform dive ... "We feel good. Today is the first time we have put it on our list in a meet. There were a lot of nerves, but we all looked good. Katie (Skendrovic) won and had a great meet. Ellen (Van Cleve) threw some dives that she has learned this year and she did really well, too. We are all just feeling good."
