Swimcloud

Final Notes and Quotes from Federal Way

Fight! Wildcats! Fight!

  • The monkey is off Arizona head man Frank Busch’s back.  He wins his first men’s NCAA title in his career, 19 years of which has been in Tucson.
  • Arizona became the fifth team from the Pac-10 Conference to win an NCAA men’s swimming title.
  • This is the first first-time champ since UCLA won the team title in 1982.
  • Indiana University’s record streak of six straight championships is safe for at least another five years.
  • Speaking of Indiana, this marks the first time since 1980 they have cracked the Top-Ten in the standings.
  • Penn State slung shot up the team standings as junior backstroker Patrick Schirk made his first appearance in either a championship or consolation final and became the first ever Nittany Lion to stand atop the podium at the NCAA championships.
  • Georgia seniors Gil Stovall and Sebastien Rouault both claimed NCAA individual titles tonight.  Stovall broke the 17 year old 200 fly record previously held by Tennessee legend Melvin Stewart.  Rouault was under record pace late in his race but was not able to hold on but still claimed the 1650 title.
  • There are unconfirmed reports that Auburn’s Cesar Cielo will be foregoing his senior season and go pro. 

 

1650 Free Event Champion Georgia's Sebastien Rouault
On swimming against his training partner Georgia sophomore Troy Prinsloo in finals
"We thought about it all year.  We trained all year for it and today was like training.  Everyday we push each other."

On the confidence this win builds going into the Olympics
"(It went up) a lot.  I mean anytime you race the best people and you have a race like that you build confidence.  I know it will help me a lot." 

On narrowly missing out on Chris Thompson’s record
"I really wanted this one and I wont have another chance because I am a senior.  But I think Troy (Prinsloo) can do it so I will be happy if he can do it."


200 Back Event Champion Penn St's Patrick Schirk
On winning Penn State’s first ever individual title
"It feels pretty good.  I think it was the first win ever for Penn State, I found that out before the race."

On his race strategy
"The strategy was more that I needed to go out fast and put myself in a situation to swim well.  I wasn’t trying to think about what the rest of the field was doing because if I do that I’ll psyche myself out.  So I try to keep my own race plan going on."

On his coach’s reaction
"My coach is pretty happy, I think he was as nervous as I was.  It feels good to have that race over with." 

On growing up a Penn State fan and the meaning of winning this title for PSU
"I grew up a Penn St fan all my life, being from Pennsylvania.  All my family is Penn State alumni so it feels great and start to make the first steps to build a tradition at Penn State that we never really had before.  So it feels great to be part of a first step in the direction of building a tradition like a Michigan or Texas."


200 Breast Event Champion Paul Kornfeld
On winning both the 100 and 200 breast
It’s great I was really confident going into the 100, but the 200 has been my best event growing up and last year I had a break through in the 100.  So I was a little more confident going into the 100 this meet but it was awesome to do what I knew I could do in the 200 breast, it was great." 


200 Fly Event Champion Georgia's Gil Stovall
On the phone call he took after his race
"That was my brother he just got back from Iraq about a week ago.  He was watching the swim online.  I miss him a lot, I was hoping he would be able to come this weekend but it didn’t work out." 

On breaking Melvin Stewart’s record
"It feels really cool but its really humbling getting up there with that crowd.  I really give credit to our freshman Mark, because I really couldn’t of done it without him as a training partner.  Hes amazing, he pushes me everyday.  I kind of got into a little rut with my training but he snapped me back into it.  He’s an amazing guy and amazing to train with."

On the hardest fly set he’s done this year
"I’d say one of the harder sets we do is 20x50 short course on 35 (second intervals) holding our best average.  We were both holding about 27’s and 28’s and just working each other every single second of the way.  Its amazing because you know when your training with (Mark Dylla) you are going fast." 


NCAA Team Champion Arizona Head Coach Frank Busch
 
“I feel so happy for these guys, my coaching staff, and this school—and my family. This was special for my family.”
 
On winning the men’s and women’s championships: “I can’t explain any of these last couple weeks. It’s two teams that wanted to win, two teams with a lot of pride.  There’s something about this group that’s very special. Coaches talk about their teams being special all the time but there’s something special about this group of men and women.”
 
On not letting up despite coming into the last day of competition with a 91-point lead: “We actually increased the lead by four points today and we didn’t have a great morning. I knew we could win the meet but I wanted to win it the right way—I didn’t want to back into it. We didn’t.”

100 Freestyle NCAA Champion Auburn's Cesar Cielo 

On breaking the 100 Free Record: “In the morning I broke my best time of 41.17 with a 41.12 and I got really confident. I felt like I could break 40 but you never know what’s going to happen. In these events it’s really hard to predict so I just came out tonight and I tried to do my best.”
 
On being the first to break 41 seconds: “I was relieved actually. Everyone has been talking about it all season. It’s just hard when everyone’s expecting you to do something that you don’t know if you’re going to achieve or not. I felt the pressure was really strong and I handled it pretty well so I’m pretty happy with myself.”
 
On winning four national championships: “It feels great. It really feels like the goal has been achieved and all the hard work we put in all year paid off.”

Platform Diving NCAA Champion Ohio State's Sean Moore 
 
On winning a national championship: “It’s really unbelievable. I can’t even describe it to you, what it feels like.”
 
On breaking an NCAA meet record with his diving score of 478.20: “I didn’t even know I did that until they just told me. I guess I’m just happy with my performance today, it’s hard for me to talk.”
 
On his high-scoring dives: “I just found my own happy place and stayed there for the whole meet. I didn’t let any misses get me down. I just got up there and sank some putts.”
 
400 Freestyle Relay National Champion Arizona
Albert Subirats 
 
On coming back from behing behind: “We knew they were going to out hard with Cesar [Cielo] and [Alexei] Puninski. We knew we would have to work in the second half, [Nicolas] Nilo and Joel [Greenshields] came back and really got the job done.”
 
On Frank Busch: “He’s great. Hands down, best coaching staff in the world. They deserve it, we just wanted to do it for them.”
 
On [Sophomore anchor] Joel [Greenshields]: “Unbelievable. Nothing beats getting a relay win at the end. Joel is only a sophomore, so you know what he’s going to be doing in the next couple of years. He was great for a guy with so little experience.”
 
 
400 Freestyle Relay National Champion Arizona
Darian Townsend 
 
On winning the 400 Free Relay National Championship: “It’s unbelievable. It’s something we’ve worked on all year. We knew we could do it, the coaches motivate us.”
 
On coach Frank Busch: “I’ve only been at Arizona for two years and they’ve been the best two years of my life. The coaches are just unbelievable. They’re so friendly and so easy to get along with. It’s because of their attitude that we’re able to [excel] as swimmers and as people. All credit to them and all credit to the rest of the team.”
On being the first Arizona team to win a national championship: “It’s absolutely great. Frank and Rick, the two coaches who have been there the longest, they deserve it the most. Credit to all of the coaches, to Roy and Augie. It’s all for them. We’re just happy that we’re able to bring them a championship.”

 

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