People might see finishing a perfect regular season with a championship loss as a failure, but UA swimming coach Eric Hansen has high hopes for the Wildcats, who placed fourth at the NCAA Championships.
Arizona completed its regular season with an undefeated record despite facing four top-10 teams, but ended the year placing third at the Pac-12 Championships and fourth in the NCAA Championships. The Pac-12 Championships were never a focal point of the season, as the Wildcats looked forward to the NCAA Championships.
Certain philosophies go into preparation for all sports and peaking during the post season is a key to championship success.
“Putting a bigger workload together so you don’t have to peak twice, so we can only peak once and that’s at the NCAA Championships,” Hansen said. “The past administration had the same philosophy as I currently have as far as swimming through conference.”
Being a successful swimming program does not rely on the school’s presence through one year, but its ability to last through a number of seasons. Hansen has seen success in the Arizona program as a swimmer and assistant coach, and now in his first season as a head coach.
“Re-learning the system here at U of A takes time and relationships take time and I think each day gets better and stronger,” Hansen said. “We’re looking forward to the future but also enjoying the day to day preparation.”
The Wildcats will lose senior captains Cory Chitwood, Austen Thompson and Kevin Munsch, each a large contributor to talent and leadership who helped keep the team a family community throughout the season.
Hansen stresses that you don’t need to be a captain to be a leader on the team. Even though there are individuals who show captain worth, everybody needs to take responsibility for keeping morale high and the team concentrated. Hansen is excited to see swimmers raise their talent levels and exceed next year. “Seniors graduate and that’s tough but it also gives people a chance to step up to be the next impact people on the team,” Hansen said. “And that’s what our expectations are.”
Hansen is still training his seniors and the rest of the team, preparing them for Olympic trials.