The Morning Swim Show, Dec. 1, 2011: Success in the Pool Equating to Success as a Coach for Courtney Shealy Hart

PHOENIX, Arizona, December 1. COURTNEY Shealy Hart joins today's edition of The Morning Swim Show to talk about coaching at Georgia Tech University.

In the three seasons she has been head coach of the men's and women's teams, Shealy Hart has seen her swimmers perform at a high level, and she talks about a couple of the swimmers to watch not only this college season, but possibly next year at the Olympic Trials and the Olympics. She also talks about how she recruits foreign swimmers, why they are drawn to Georgia Tech and how her swimmers perceive her success at the Olympics. 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.)

Jeff Commings: This is the Morning Swim Show for Thursday, December 1st, 2011. I'm your host Jeff Commings, and today in the FINIS Monitor we'll meet Courtney Shealy Hart, the head coach of the Georgia Tech Men's and Women's Swimming Team. She's in her third season at the school, and she joins us right now from Atlanta. Hi, coach, welcome back to the show. How are you doing?

Courtney Shealy Hart: I'm great, Jeff. How are you?

Jeff Commings: Doing well, thanks. So the U.S. Nationals begin today in your home pool. Do you have any swimmers who are gonna be competing?

Courtney Shealy Hart: We do. We have about 24 different swimmers that are competing in nationals this week and we're very excited and looking forward to some fast swimming not only by our athletes but everybody visiting our pool.

Jeff Commings: Yeah, I was gonna say, I mean, it probably makes all your swimmers excited to be kind of milling around with people like Ryan Lochte and all the others of it. I mean, what — how is this different — how was — how will the feeling be for your swimmers at this meet as compared to last week at the Georgia Tech Invite where, you know, they still swam pretty well?

Courtney Shealy Hart: Yeah, we had a great invite. We had some people focusing on invite, we obviously have some people focusing on nationals, so they can make the Olympic trial cuts. And I think they're just excited, you know. You saw how fast we swam last weekend and they're very excited to compete against those tough athletes and make their Olympic trial cuts and do well and have fun in our home pool.

Jeff Commings: What was your general impression of the team's performances last weekend at the Georgia Tech invite?

Courtney Shealy Hart: I was super pleased, you know, it's a fastest we've ever been in our invite. You know, we're working really hard and it's great to see that pay off for all of our athletes. It gives them confidence as we go into kind of our second phase of training which is obviously our winter training phase as we get ready for ACCs and NCAAs.

Jeff Commings: A couple of school records were broken at the meet on the women's side. Did you expect that at all especially at a midseason meet?

Courtney Shealy Hart: Well, you know, Jeff, our women have been good for a long time. They just haven't necessarily believed in themselves. They work really hard and so we've really pushed that this year as to believe that they are that good. And I think it finally all came together at this meet. So I have to say it doesn't surprise me because I knew they were that good. They're just finally believing in themselves.

Jeff Commings: Keren Siebner broke the school record at hundred fly, 52.8 I believe. Tell us more about her.

Courtney Shealy Hart: Yeah, you know, she's a great athlete. She's from Israel. She actually made her World University Games last year at ACCs with her hundred fly time. And I think it kinda surprised her. She trained really hard this summer. Obviously, had a great experience at world university games and then came back to school for her senior year ready to go. I think she surprised herself with the 52.8 but she works really hard and so I'm really happy for her and I can't wait to see her at ACCs and, hopefully, NCAAs in the spring.

Jeff Commings: Is there a chance that we could see her stepping up on the blocks at the Olympics next year?

Courtney Shealy Hart: I hope so. You know, she's gonna compete in the meet in Israel here in December and then actually going for a relay national cut. And so they're excited about that. But I hope so. I definitely think if she continues to work hard, she definitely has a chance to represent Israel in the Olympics.

Jeff Commings: I know a swimmer, that international swimmer which you look out for is Nico Van Duijn, and I hope I pronounced his last name right, he looks to be doing well. He's going to the European championships next week in the hundred fly also, I believe. How did you recruit him?

Courtney Shealy Hart: You know, I have to give a lot of credit to my assistant coach Chris DeSantis. He does a great job with our international recruiting. We found Nico and only started, you know, obviously communicating with him and he's just a great kid. And, yes, he went back to his nationals this past week over Thanksgiving and, obviously, did a wonderful job and will be competing for them in the European Championships and he's just really excited. He got back today. He's pretty tired but, obviously, a happy guy.

Jeff Commings: Let's talk about recruiting international swimmers. Is there any kind of ratio that you look forward in recruiting international swimmers as opposed to domestic swimmers? Do you say, okay, I only wanna have these many international swimmers on my roster?

Courtney Shealy Hart: I don't think so, you know, I think for us we're looking for the best athletes possible, you know, whether they come from international or domestic. A lot of — we have found a lot of international kids are very interested in engineering, at least that ones we've been in touch with. Obviously, we have a fantastic engineering school. We're more than that. We have a great management school and other, you know, great majors. But I think, you know, some of the resources we've tapped into internationally have been geared towards that engineering program that we have here at Georgia Tech.

Jeff Commings: And let's not forget the great pool that you have there.

Courtney Shealy Hart: Absolutely, yeah. You know, a lot of people had never seen it so we'll show pictures but then when they actually get here and, you know, were the home of the 1996 Olympics, you know, just speaks volumes by itself. It is a tremendous recruiting tool for us.

Jeff Commings: Well, let's talk about coaching there. What do you like most about the job?

Courtney Shealy Hart: I definitely think coaching both the men and the women is a great, great fun for me. You know, the men respect kinda what I've done in the pool as being the Olympian and being the NCAA championship swimmer. The women had to work a little bit harder for but they do respect that. I would say being able to have the chance to coach both here at Georgia Tech has been great. Obviously, the pool is phenomenal and to be able host some of this national meets that we're hosting as well as, you know, Duel in the Pool coming up, you know, it's fun to be able to showcase our pool and be a part of that as the head coach of Georgia Tech Swimming and Diving.

Jeff Commings: Well, it's kind of interesting, the last time you're on the show, when you just started Georgia Tech, you said that kind of one of your fears was that the men weren't gonna respect you because you were a female coach, and now you just saying that because of your accolades as a swimmer, they're the ones who are respecting you the most. Are you kind of surprised by that?

Courtney Shealy Hart: You know, I guess I didn't really truly know what to expect having never been a head coach of a men's program but they really do. They're like, okay, well, you've done this so you obviously know what's going on. And so it's been fun to coach them, you know, based on my experience but then have to work with the women a little bit more and say, okay, yeah, I've done this, but they wanna know why and, you know, how it all works, they're very analytical. So it's a great balance and a great fun to try to, you know, match both of those brain waves that are going.

Jeff Commings: Do you still talk to your old coach Jack Bauerle asking for advice?

Courtney Shealy Hart: Absolutely. I probably talk to Jack once a month. He's been, obviously, he was a great coach for me, obviously, he's a great mentor, very excited to, you know, see me move on to be a head coach and talk to him once a month. He's just a great guy and a great person to ask any questions to and he's very honest and upfront with me and truly been a blessing in my life.

Jeff Commings: As you mentioned, you swam in the Olympics in 2000 Sydney, won a couple gold medals — you were in the finals of the 400 free relay with Dara Torres who is now looking for her sixth Olympic appearance. Do you think at the back of your mind if Dara can do it, maybe I'll put this coaching on hold for a little bit, maybe 2016?

Courtney Shealy Hart: Absolutely not. I give Dara all the credit in the world, a great person, a phenomenal swimmer. I think, you know, my swimming days are over. I think I am very grateful to be so involved in the sport so I think that what helps keep me going is that I'm able to coach the sport but I have no desire for a comeback whatsoever. I will cheer her on as hard as possible and wish her the best, but I will stay on the coaching side of things.

Jeff Commings: You don't even get in the pool at all, just splash around a little bit?

Courtney Shealy Hart: Oh, I do. I do swim. So I think it's great exercise. I've picked up some yoga and spinning as well, but swimming is still definitely part of my life, just not necessarily as a competitive athlete.

Jeff Commings: Well, looks like the coaching side really does agree with you well, looks like everybody is doing well at Georgia Tech. Courtney, thanks very much for joining us today. Congratulations on the success last weekend. We look forward to seeing how your swimmers do this weekend.

Courtney Shealy Hart: Great, Jeff. Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Jeff Commings: It was our pleasure. All right, that's Courtney Shealy Hart joining us from Atlanta where they're getting ready for the U.S.A. Swimming Nationals and we'll be there as well. I'm Jeff Commmings. Thanks for watching.

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