A Team of One: Flying Solo At NCAAs

Photo Courtesy: Cathleen Pruden

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NCAAs. The National Championships. For many college swimmers those words conjure an image of a meet they’d dream of attending. It sparks an image of a pool deck screaming for Caeleb Dressel as he fires off a historic split. It reminds people of the entire Georgia squad leaning over one edge of the pool and the Cal team leaning over the other, cheering home their super stars in an exhilarating 500.

But for many athletes at the meet, they’re not a part of those moments in quite the same way. They’re at the national championship as a team of one, their school’s only qualified swimmer of either gender. It’s still exciting. It’s still a dream come true. But, it’s a situation that comes with a unique set of challenges and opportunities.

According to official psych sheets for Division II, 13 women and five men will travel to Birmingham as a team of one. While things are not set in stone, the unofficial Division III psych sheets show that 11 women and 10 men will be the sole representatives from their schools racing in Shenandoah. For some of those athletes, that’s a change. They were once on a relay, or once joined by a teammate or two. For others, it’s the norm.

For three years I attended Division III NCAAS as a team of one and I learned quite a bit along the way. So for those 39 individuals, here’s a few thoughts for the next few weeks…

Embrace the training process.

Photo Courtesy: MHC Swim Dive (Instagram)

Right now you may still be riding the high of your recent selection, but one of these days, in the long few days before taper begins again, practices will become a bit lonely. But, they still matter. Embrace it. You’ve been granted a few more weeks to get better.

Enjoy getting more attention. Take in the extra feedback, but don’t overthink things. You’re doing the same thing you did all season, you’re just fighting fewer waves.

Rely on your teammates.

You can still debrief practice with a teammate. You can still ask them to join you for dinner. While most of them are enjoying a few weeks on dry land, maybe they’ll join you for your lift. Teammates are still teammates. Tell them what kind of support you need. They’re sometimes more excited for you than you are. Let that pride carry you.

Plan.

This meet won’t be quite like your conference championship. Think about what will be different and think about how you’ll handle those changes.

No matter how close you are with your coach, spending a week together is a long time. Talk it out and make a plan. Can you handle a week of one-on-one breakfast, lunch, and dinner dates? Will your parents be attending? Can you go out to eat with another team to mix it up a bit?

Suddenly your few races will be the only ones your coach is worried about. Coaches get antsy in the downtime. They might hover over your warmup lane and pay a little more attention to what you eat and how long you warm down. How can you maintain a sense of the normalcy you experienced at the rest of your season’s meets?

Will you need a counter? How do you feel about not having a roommate? Who usually picks you up after a bad race? Can a phone call with that teammate replace a face to face conversation? So many things about this week will likely be different, but giving it a little thought now can make things run smoothly and enjoyably.

Make friends.

vassar-mount-holyoke-friends-dinner-selfie

Photo Courtesy: Cathleen Pruden

Whether they’re from your conference, home state, or simply somebody sitting nearby, make friends. Meet people you can treat like teammates. Find somebody to share this experience with.

It’s okay to ask for help.

My first year at nationals I walked into the locker room, new tech suit in tow, as my male coach said “Good luck. I can’t really help with that.” In the locker room I found another solo swimmer and her coach, there for the suit assist. I can’t even count the number of strangers I asked to pull a suit strap over my shoulder, but we’re swimmers and we’re in this together.

We all know the beauty of swimming, in that we can all go best times while only one person wins. Everybody at that meet wants everybody to succeed and there will be others there to help you along the way. Just ask.

Believe everybody there is cheering for you.

cathleen-pruden-dave-allen-coach-swimmer-ncaa

Photo Courtesy: Cathleen Pruden

At my first nationals, I was struck by the loud crowd. In that first final, each of the powerhouse teams had an athlete racing and as each of them were announced and their parent sections went nuts, I told myself that the entire crowd was cheering for me. It was like having my team there.

You can’t hear your teammates, classmates, professors, and family yelling for you over the live stream, but you don’t need to if you can pretend they’re filling the stands.

Take control.

Your championship experience revolves around you. Speak up in practice the next few weeks. Communicate how your body feels if a set doesn’t seem quite right. This is your personalized post-season. Own it.

Make it your meet. You decide where you want to go for lunch. You decide what time you want to arrive at the pool. Do what you need and maximize every opportunity that will result in the fastest swimming possible.

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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Chris Sheppard

7 years ago

Eileen Hall

7 years ago

Reply to Chris Sheppard

YES

SwimMomof2

7 years ago

A bit confused – bio accompanying article states author swam for Mt. Holyoke and in article it mentions Davidson. In addition, I believe Davidson, while a D111 school in most sports, is D1 for swimming.