Checking In With Nick Thoman

By Reed Shimberg

PHOENIX, Arizona, July 16. NICK Thoman is a backstroke star in the U.S. While he has only made a few international teams, he still is the current world record holder in the 100 SCM backstroke. He missed out on making the 2008 U.S. Olympic team by just more than half a second, but rebounded by performing amazingly at the U.S. Open by finishing with a time that would have qualified for the team and scored a medal in Beijing. We caught up with him just a few weeks before Nationals to see what he is up to. He has made a couple of different coaching changes recently, as chronicle by Swimming World senior writer John Lohn in the July cover article of Swimming World Magazine, but currently is training with David Marsh at SwimMAC.

What is your goal for this summer? Do you have specific time goal?
The biggest goal for this summer is to make the Pan Pacific Championship and the World Games team for this December and next summer. I would be really excited to make those teams. As for a time, I don't have a specific goal in mind, but I want to go faster than I ever have before even without the suits.

How bittersweet was the 2008 U.S. Open? Did you know you could go that fast?
The 2008 U.S. Open was one of the most fun meets of my life. There was virtually no pressure on me to perform, I was having a lot of fun, it was at the University of Minnesota so a great pool, and I had the swims of my life until that point. When I saw how fast I had gone, I was shocked. I had no idea I was going that fast, and there are pictures of me right after the race with a very (happily) confused face.

If you competed for almost any other country you could be a national backstroke powerhouse. Does that motivate you or aggravate you?
I don't think I would have turned out the same way if I competed for another country. Being a part of the swimming tradition here in the USA is part of the reason I work so hard. I have to race the best in the world every time I jump in the water, and that really gets me amped up.

Who is your favorite competitor to race against?
I really like racing all of the guys out there, but I'd say [Ryan] Lochte is one of my favorites to race against. He's always goofing around and cracking jokes in the ready room right before the race and it helps to keep the mood light and fun even in very high pressure environments.

Many believe you will win the 100 backstroke at nationals this summer. How does it feel to no longer be an underdog?
I still feel like I am the underdog. Most of the other competitors have already accomplished great things, and I feel as if I have yet to prove myself on the national and international stage.

What was it like to break the 100 backstroke world record?
That was probably my favorite swim up to now. I had to earn my spot on that relay the morning of the race with a 50 swim off. I think I was more nervous for that swim than I was for that evening's race. I had a great start in that race, and I just used that momentum all the way through the end. When I touched the wall and saw the clock I was incredibly excited, but I hopped right out and started cheering for the rest of my teammates who were still up on the relay. I think that was one of the cooler parts, to break an individual record and a relay record in one swim because I got to share it with three other guys too.

How was going to college at Arizona? What made you want to go there?
Arizona was a great experience and a great team to train with. One of my High School teachers knew Frank Busch, and I think that's how the dialogue got started. I was very excited to go out to Arizona. They were, and are, a perennial powerhouse and I wanted to be a part of that tradition.

I read somewhere your grandfather was a world record holder in the backstroke in the 1950s. Was that one of the reasons you wanted to start swimming? How great is it to follow in his footsteps?
It is a very cool experience to follow in his footsteps, but I don't think that's what got me into swimming. My older sister was swimming and I was getting very bored (at four years old) just sitting on the deck. I don't think my four-year-old brain could comprehend what my grandfather had done, but when I started to understand I know it helped to motivate me to go faster every time I got in the water.

How was training at North Baltimore? How much motivation did training with [Michael] Phelps everyday give you?
Training at North Baltimore Aquatics was amazing. We put in a lot of hard work and yardage, and training with Phelps was great for me. He is great to train with because he could always turn on the speed, and I would have to bust my butt to keep up. He was a better training partner than I'd had in about two years (since I was in Arizona) and it really helped me to train at a higher level every day.

I know you and Hayley McGregory made the move around the same time, did you guys decide to leave together and pick the same team on purpose?
Hayley and I had been training together for a while in Texas, and stayed with Randy Reese when he moved down to Florida. Things weren't ideal down there, so we both started searching for a new training situation. We both came to the decision that Baltimore would be a great move for our individual careers, but we both came to that conclusion separately and it just worked out that way.

How is training with her?
She is very fast and very energetic. She would definitely keep me honest on pulling sets (not my specialty but definitely hers) and when I was having off days she would kick my butt. She also helped to keep the mood light enough and a lot of fun.

Have you ever thought about moving out to Fullerton and training at FAST?
When I was looking for a new coach, Sean [Hutchison] was one of the finalists. I have known him for several years and really enjoy training with him, but Coach [David] Marsh and SwimMAC seemed to be a better fit for me at the time. I am loving it here in Charlotte training with SwimMAC Team Elite, and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else right now.

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