The Morning Swim Show, Nov. 25, 2011: Darian Townsend Part of South African Push for Medals in 2012

PHOENIX, Arizona, November 25. DARIAN Townsend is one of the people hoping to swim for a medal in the 200 IM at the London Olympics, and on today's edition of The Morning Swim Show, the South African talks about that goal.

Townsend also looks back on the 2004 Olympics, when he helped South Africa win the 400 freestyle relay. The Springboks could be in the medal hunt again in 2012, and Townsend talks about the wealth of talent looking to be on that relay next year. 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: Welcome to the Morning Swim Show for Friday, November 25th, 2011. I'm your host Peter Busch. In the FINIS Monitor today we'll talk to Darian Townsend. He just swam at the all-new pro league meet where he won three events. Darian joins us right now in the FINIS Monitor from Tucson. Hey, Darian, welcome back to the show, how are you doing?

Darian Townsend: Hey, I'm good, thanks. Thanks for having me back.

Peter Busch: Are you growing on a mustache?

Darian Townsend: Yeah. Yeah, I'm in my support of my [inaudible] at the moment. So a couple of more days it's gonna be on and then it comes off, yeah, so enjoying it at the moment.

Peter Busch: Very nice. Well, how's swimming going for you?

Darian Townsend: Oh. It's going great. You know, the summer was a good summer for me. You know, I did pretty well at world champs, and just kinda carried on the training from there and, yeah, the last two minutes, the last of meets, the Minneapolis Grand Prix and the pro duel league one, you know, we're really good successes for me.

Peter Busch: How was this pro league meet because we had been talking about it in the show, we interviewed the person who started it, you know, what'd you think?

Darian Townsend: It was great. You know, the kinda feeling I got from the meet was it felt very much like a Pac-10 conference meet. It wasn't quite like NCAA, didn't have quite the hype, you know, on the pool deck that the NCAA meet has. But it kinda felt like Pac-10 was a little bit more chilled out and — but, you know, once you got in the pool, you know, it was on, the racing was intense. So it was a lot of fun for me, reminded me of my college days a lot.

Peter Busch: You won some money. You won about a thousand bucks. We know that's not, you know, a lot relative to maybe like a world cup meet, but is it something that you think can grow?

Darian Townsend: Definitely, you know, being the first kinda pro dual league meet, it can definitely grow from here. And I think the prize money can definitely get better. You know, I think the Michigan staff did a great job of putting on the meet and, you know, I think it's getting more sponsors involved, getting it more, you know, kinda out there. You know, we'll make it bigger and better for sure.

Peter Busch: You mentioned that you were pleased with how you swam this summer. You didn't make the final in the 200 IM though. I thought maybe you'd be disappointed.

Darian Townsend: Yeah, you know, the summer was kind of a, you know, we had Frank Busch leaving right after the NCAAs in March this year, so Eric Hansen took over as the head coach of Arizona here. So it was a bit of a, you know, a change for me getting used to his program, you know, over Frank's one. So at the end of the summer, you know, I did really well. You know, even though I didn't make the final in the IM, my freestyle came around all of a sudden. So, you know, I was pretty good on the relay. I was best spliton our relay team. We ended up getting sixth spot on that. You know, I was pretty good leading of the 4×200, did a best time there. So, you know, I was happy with that considering the chain of the event we had at Arizona.

Peter Busch: What is the realistic expectation for South Africa's four by 100 freestyle relay next year?

Darian Townsend: You know, I think the sky's the limit for us. You know, we had a great lead off with Graeme Moore, you know, I did well with my 47.7 going second, Gideon Louw was also 47 right about there. So, you know, we're just looking for a fourth swimmer at the moment to break that 48 second barrier. You know, if you get four guys on a relay team going 47 splits, you're definitely in the money. So, you know, the sky is the limit like I said. And we just need to find that fourth swimmer, and make sure that the three of us that are on that relay team at the moment, you know, do our job.

Peter Busch: Do you think Roland can still be that guy or is it — he past his prime sort of speak?

Darian Townsend: No. Roland could definitely still be that guy, you know, he's training up in Phoenix now at the Phoenix Swim Club. So he's back on his game and he'll be swimming in ten days' time at Atlanta at the U.S. Nationals. So we'll see how his trainings come along. But I definitely think he can still be the guy. We have two other swimmers as well. They're in the hunt. Leith Shankland from South Africa. He was at world champs for us. And then Chad Le Clos, who's swimming some amazing times at the moment. So, you know, there's quite a battle going on for that fourth spot and, you know, even just for the relay team. So it's gonna push us to even, you know, high limits or high levels and, you know, we could do some things, some big things next year.

Peter Busch: It's been seven years since you won the gold medal as a member of that relay in Athens. Has anything even come close to surpassing that moment or is that still the top swimming moment for you?

Darian Townsend: Yeah, definitely, that's — I mean, that relay swim in Athens will be with me for the rest of my life, you know, it's one of the highlights. It was so much fun, it being my first Olympics, my first event at Olympics. That was pretty much surreal. Even today I think back and I watch the video and I think, you know, who was that guy? I don't believe that was me. But, you know, it was an awesome feeling. I'd say, you know, winning an NCAA championships, a team title has come pretty close to that. That was a lot of fun, you know, the NCAA meet and it's a very – really, really, fast meet, very hard meet to win a championship at. So that for me, you know, is a very, very close second I would say. But, yeah, I still remember back to that day in 2004 and it was an awesome experience.

Peter Busch: You know, I wanna ask you, what is the difference between my dad's old training style and Eric Hansen's?

Darian Townsend: I think Frank was a, I mean, he was a great coach and I loved his program when I swam under it. He was — he's pretty much old school I would say. I wouldn't say old school in a bad way though. I think some of the philosophies he's kept along years of his coaching career were awesome, you know, and it still worked today. I would say Eric comes for little bit more new school, you know, Eric not too long ago was competing in the pool. He was swimming the 100 freestyles, the 50 freestyle. So his history wasn't so long ago and I think he brings a kinda youth to his coaching methods and as long as I keep getting faster, you know, I'm happy and I'm gonna keep at it.

Peter Busch: It sounds like it's working at least for your freestyle. I mean, you're kind of rediscovering that sprint freestyle.

Darian Townsend: Definitely. You know, I came on to the scene, the world scene as a sprint freestyler A 50 and 100 guy. The 200 IM was something I kinda swam all my life, you know, growing up but I was really concentrating on the — especially when I came to college on the 50 and the 100. Did a lot of training at Florida, a little bit more training here in Arizona, and the 200 came around. So, you know, my freestyle has always been there. The IM is nice, just bit of a break so I don't get stale in one stroke. So I'd like to keep, you know, both of those events going and, you know, see which one takes me further.

Peter Busch: The 200 free at least until recently was the one that most people expected you to have the best chance individually on the Olympic stage next year. I think most people pencil in Phelps, and Lochte in some order as 1-2, but that bronze medal, that's up for grabs.

Darian Townsend: Yeah, definitely, that can be said for the IM as well, you know, Lochte, Phelps, 1-2, and then there's that third slot in the IM as well as the 200 free up for grabs. You know, the 200 free is a little bit more — I think there's a little bit more competition there. You know, I think you have four guys this summer going 1:44s and the fourth guy losing out of the medals. So you know, with the IM Lochte and Phelps so far ahead with 1:54s and then I think the next time was maybe a 56 high. So a 200 free is definitely more competition there but, you know, once you make a final in the Olympics or in any meet, you know, anything is possible. So, the final is normally a little bit slower than the semi-final. That's because people tend to race a little more on the final, not worry about time so much. So, you know, I'm just, you know, gonna be concentrating on both and we'll swim both at the trials next April in South Africa and from there make it a decision to which one I'm gonna swim in in London.

Peter Busch: Yeah. You make a good point actually to clarify meant the 200 IM is more wide open. There's certainly more competition and I wouldn't even — I mean, Phelps and Lochte might be the best two 200 freestylers, but that one that's gonna be tough no matter what. But you're right, 200 IM, curious, what would be your strategy on the 200 IM? You know, what — do you have to be, you know, with everybody going into the breaststroke or the freestyle to have a chance?

Darian Townsend: You know, the 200 IM, you know, I have a pretty good freestyle. Being a 200 freestyler I'm able to come home pretty good. But it all dictates as to how hard I go out on the first three legs. So, you know, saving as much energy for that freestyle is kind of what I'm focusing on. You know, I'm just making sure I bring it home as fast or faster than the other guys.

Peter Busch: Any big holiday plans, Darian?

Darian Townsend: Yeah, I'm actually going to be swimming a meet in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the middle of December. It's gonna be very cold, but I'm looking forward to that. I'm going to London and visit my parents who will be there visiting their parents. But for actual Christmas Day I'll be back here in Tucson and then two days later straight back into Christmas training.

Peter Busch: Well have a nice holiday season. Thanks for joining us.

Darian Townsend: Thank you guys.

Peter Busch. All right. That is Darian Townsend joining us in the FINIS monitor from Tucson. 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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