University of Connecticut Athletics
BIG EAST DiaryBy Senior Barry Hoey
2/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
MEMORIES MADE
Early morning preliminaries have provided so many exciting swims the past two
days! Eleven swimmers advanced to the finals, after finishing in the top 16 in
their events. Junior Ofri Brener had an awesome swim in the 100 breast,
breaking the school record and finishing the heat third. Former Connecticut
swimmer Sean Tedesco, now an assistant coach with the Villanova swimming
team, previously held the record. Two years ago, Ofri came really close to
breaking the record and you could see Sean wiping his brow, but I am sure he
was excited to see it go.
THE SUPPORTING CAST
Our parents and family members have been very supportive in the stands here.
You would have thought you were back in Storrs at the Wolff-Zackin Natatorium
or even at a UConn basketball game with their antics! (With the "Voice of
Connecticut Swimming" at the meet, Bill Shults, Assistant Director of Athletics
for Compliance, that feeling is emanated) Five parents would line up in a row
and one-by-one, lift up signs spelling out U-C-O-N-N (sort of a small crowd wave)
directly across from us. Of course, we chant along: "U-C-O-N-N, UConn, UConn,
UConn!" It's cool that they get into it that much. Sophomore Craig Orski's sister
(who's a teacher) even had her third grade class make a banner for the meet.
Thanks kids!
THE DAILY GRIND...
All of our meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) have been prepared at the hotel
we are staying at in Long Island. They have supplemented our diet these past
few days. Tonight's menu included steak, mashed potatoes and lots of veggies!
mmmm....
ROCK ON' DIVA
Since the beginning of the season, freshman Katie Jelus (a.k.a. the
cheerleading coordinator) has led us in song and has so much enthusiasm
doing it. Katie does her rendition of Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" on deck and we
all back her up and keep "rollin', rollin', rollin' on a river." She's such the
entertainer! This just shows how close knit we are as a team. No one is ever
sitting down. We are always on deck supporting who's racing. It's a good
combination, because we do everything together as a team and we are all
friends.
SALUTING THE PLATFORMS
The divers (sophomore Kevin McKinney, freshman Chase Dunlap, senior
Heather Law and sophomore Melissa Kull) provided a lot of points to our overall
team score and completed their final events today. They really kept us in the
meet and Melissa placed sixth in one-meter diving tonight. The University of
Miami is the most prominent diving school in the nation (with several U.S.
Olympians on its roster) and for her to be right up there with them is huge!
There will be a diving break tomorrow where divers are able to perform off the
10-meter platform, and most divers will take that opportunity, since most
schools only have the one-meter and three-meter boards. It is always fun to
watch during the break from swimming action.
EVENING THOUGHTS
Ofri once again broke the school record in the finals of the 100 breast and
earned an NCAA "B" cut. The men really stepped up. Freshman Dustin Rogers
and sophomore Marshal Livingstone recorded lifetime bests in the 200 freestyle
- and those are impressive times for young guys who still have more
conference meets ahead of them. Coach Goldberg was very excited with the fast
swims and really thrilled with the relays. The women broke another relay record
in the 800 freestyle relay and took six seconds off from the previous record!
(They came out with powerful swims) The men came close to doing the same,
but I have a feeling the record will be broken in the near future. We had a lot of
finalists tonight and those who finished in the top 6 (even relay teams) received
medals from the BIG EAST Conference. So, that puts the count to nine medals!
