The Morning Swim Show, Dec. 13, 2011: Kristen Shickora Aiming to Help Georgia Win Team Title in Her Senior Year

PHOENIX, Arizona, December 1. Kristen Shickora joins today's edition of The Morning Swim Show to talk about her swims at the recent Georgia Invite, and how the team is gearing up for another run at the team championship title.

She also discusses her life outside the pool, including her work within Georgia's athletic community and off campus. Watch the full show in the video player below and visit SwimmingWorld.TV for more video interviews.

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Show Transcript: (Note: This is an automated service where some typos and grammatical errors may occur.)

Peter Busch: This is The Morning Swim Show for Tuesday, December 13th 2011. I'm your host Peter Busch. In the FINIS monitor today we'll talk to Kristen Shickora. She's a senior swimming at the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs are as usual, one of the best teams in the country this year. Kristen joins us right now in the FINIS monitor from Athens, Georgia. Hi Kristen, welcome to The Morning Swim Show. How are you?

Kristen Shickora: I'm doing fabulous. How are you?

Peter Busch: Good. You guys just had your big invitational. How did it go?

Kristen Shickora: I think it went very well. Everyone swam at their best and it was a reflection of how hard we've been training for the past couple of months and overall we are very, very pleased with the outcome.P

eter Busch: And you qualified for the NCAAs already in the 100 backstroke, anything else?

Kristen Shickora: No, just an A cut in the 100, a couple of B cuts but just the 100 back for now.

Peter Busch: That's what the conference meet is for, right?

Kristen Shickora: Exactly.

Peter Busch: I noticed something – you guys have recently tied the school record for most home consecutive wins in dual meets at like 76.

Kristen Shickora: That is correct. The streak dates back until I want to say 1995, we lost the second meet we ever had at Gabrielsen Natatorium and ever since then it's been all W's.

Peter Busch: So you never lost at home since you've been there?

Kristen Shickora: Yes, never.

Peter Busch: That's pretty incredible, I can't believe that's just tying the record.

Kristen Shickora: It is pretty incredible. I think it just shows how much tradition and pride there is with the swim team. Every time we have a home meet we don't just swim for ourselves, we're swimming for the previous teams and our coaches and just everyone who's been a part of this family in the past so that's always in the back of our mind and it gives us that extra push to keep the streak going so it's been an honor to be a part of and someday in the future it will end but we'll have a lot of pride one day to have been a part of it.

Peter Busch: What's the next home dual meet where you guys can break it?

Kristen Shickora: I believe it is Tennessee sometime in January, so Tennessee is obviously an outstanding team, they always swim their best against us so we have to bring our A game to that meet because it will be a tough one but hopefully, like I said, we'll keep the streak going and just swim for the pride that we have for the school.

Peter Busch: Maybe Jack will let you guys taper a little bit for it, just for history's sake.

Kristen Shickora: Maybe – you could talk to him about that – let me know what he says.

Peter Busch: All right, big picture obviously is NCAA for you guys. You're in the hunt every year and you've been the favorite — or at least one of the teams a lot of people consider the favorite the past few years but haven't pulled it off. How about this year?

Kristen Shickora: We take it one day at a time. Yes, the past few years we have been selected as the favorite and we've always come up just a little short but I think the thing that is going to make the difference this year is our attitude. We always have such a great positive attitude, so much confidence in ourselves that one of these years it will click and we feel like this year we've put in beyond enough work and we're working on the little things and we just have so much faith in each other that I think that's going to make the difference this year so we're excited, we're looking forward to it.

Peter Busch: What do you girls on the team think when someone like Allison Schmitt who's obviously a huge contributor takes the year off, albeit an Olympic figure, but takes the year off and probably decreases your chances of winning?

Kristen Shickora: I love Allison, she was my roommate, she's still one of my best friends, and she's doing what she needs to do but as far as the team goes a team isn't based on one person and you are absolutely correct, she is a very large part of our success in the past but I think it will show just how resilient we are. We're coming back. We'll have freshmen swimming lights out to try and make up for that loss and so far I think we're doing pretty good without her. We miss her, we wish she was here, we would be that much stronger with her, but like I said we have to find a way to do it without her so I think we can do it.

Peter Busch: Did you try and talk her out of if?

Kristen Shickora: To be honest, it was the exact opposite of that. I knew that that's what she needed to do and she has phenomenal talent and she's such a great person that she was doing what she knows she needed to do so I supported her 110% and I talk to her almost every day and the first thing she says is "Oh, I miss you guys" and it means a lot.

Peter Busch: I'm sure it means a lot to her too. I hear outside the pool you're very involved in community service, you're a part of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. What is that exactly?

Kristen Shickora: It is pretty much the link between the athletes here and the athletic department. So if there is a problem or a concern that an athlete has they will communicate with one of the SAAC reps and then we will take it to the administration, whether it be a coach, the athletic director, someone up above us. If there needs to be something done, we're the link to get that done. We go above and beyond that to reach out to the community. We play a very large part with trying to represent our athletic department the best we can around everywhere. I'll give you an example – last night we had a SAAC represented holiday party and all the student athletes were invited and you were influenced and encouraged to bring a toys-for-tots gift and we ended up having almost a hundred gifts donated so that was a phenomenal turnout and there were photos with Santa and just a lot of great things. We had a station where you could write cards to the troops overseas that will be sent to them so I think it's a really great tool for the student athletes to have. I love being a part of it and it's an honor.

Peter Busch: Good for you for helping to organize that, that's absolutely great. Any big holiday plans?

Kristen Shickora: I'm going home to my family.

Peter Busch: Where's home for you?

Kristen Shickora: I am from Pennsylvania, near the Lehigh Valley, and Jack ironically is also from Pennsylvania so we kind of bond on that part. We both love our Philadelphia sports teams.

Peter Busch: Oh, sorry about your Eagles this year then.

Kristen Shickora: Yes, we need all the help we can get. But on a more positive note Jack and I love the Phillies, he likes them a little more than I do, he's all about them, but it's really cool, I love being from Pennsylvania, there's a lot of pride especially with Georgia swimming so many phenomenal swimmers have originated from Pennsylvania – Kristy Kowal, Tricia Harm just to name a few – so there's always been this little action and luckily this year we recruited another girl from Pennsylvania so she'll carry on this tradition when I'm gone next year so we're looking forward to that, that will be cool.

Peter Busch: Well Kristen, it was a pleasure speaking with you and have a great senior year.

Kristen Shickora: Thank you.

Peter Busch: All right, that's Kristen Shickora joining us in the FINIS monitor from Georgia. And that is it for today's show. I'm Peter Busch reminding you to keep your head down at the finish.

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