﻿{"id":290698,"date":"2018-01-03T18:00:48","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T01:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=290698"},"modified":"2018-01-03T11:04:40","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T18:04:40","slug":"meehan-and-slusser-forging-a-culture-of-excellence-at-stanford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/meehan-and-slusser-forging-a-culture-of-excellence-at-stanford\/","title":{"rendered":"Meehan and Slusser Forging A Culture of Excellence at Stanford"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Guerby Ruuska, Swimming World College Intern.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If one was to tune in to all the hype about Stanford women\u2019s swimming in recent years, one would think that their success has been ongoing for generations now, but that wasn\u2019t the reality before Meehan took the helm in 2012.\u00a0 The Cardinal women clinched their first NCAA team title since 1998 at the 2017 NCAA Championships.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the guidance of head coach,\u00a0<strong>Greg Meehan<\/strong>, and associate head coach,\u00a0<strong>Tracy Slusser<\/strong>, the Stanford women have been forging a culture of excellence; a culture that needed to be built the right way, even if that meant it took a little longer to rise to the top.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt was important not to rush the process,\u201d Meehan pointed out. &#8220;And by that, I mean we had to make sure, as a program, that we prioritized what was most important: how to train, how to race, how to carry themselves, how to handle adversity, etcetera. It\u2019s a simple but important step in building a program\/culture for sustainable success.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before he joined &#8220;The Farm&#8221;, Meehan spent a long and successful career as an assistant coach at Cal, where he helped lead the men to back-to-back national titles (2011, 2012). But for years, Meehan believed that head coach of the Stanford women&#8217;s program, was the premier coaching position in the country and once he got the call, he couldn&#8217;t refuse. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Ever since, the Cardinal women have been building steam and show no signs of slowing down. Back in the summer of 2016, Stanford had an impressive showing at Olympic Trials where three of their swimmers advanced on to compete at the Olympic Games. And at the Olympics sparks flew.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lia Neal<\/strong> managed to claim herself a silver medal by participating in the prelims of the 4&#215;100 freestyle relay. <strong>Simone Manuel<\/strong> came away with two golds and two silvers in her debut Olympic Games. Manuel, Stanford&#8217;s sprinting queen, shined bright when she tied with Canadian phenom sprinter, <strong>Penny Oleksiak<\/strong>,\u00a0in the 100m freestyle while upsetting the Australian powerhouses,\u00a0<strong>Cate <\/strong>and<strong> Bronte Campbell.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_217830\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-217830\" data-attachment-id=\"217830\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/meehan-and-slusser-forging-a-culture-of-excellence-at-stanford\/simone-manuel-100-freestyle-reaction-gold\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/simone-manuel-100-freestyle-reaction-gold.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1164,819\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"simone-manuel-100-freestyle-reaction-gold\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;8-12-16&lt;br \/&gt;\nsimone-manuel-100-freestyle-reaction-gold&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/simone-manuel-100-freestyle-reaction-gold-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/simone-manuel-100-freestyle-reaction-gold-1024x720.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-217830 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/simone-manuel-100-freestyle-reaction-gold-700x500.jpg\" alt=\"simone-manuel-100-freestyle-reaction-gold\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-217830\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Maya DiRado<\/strong> came away with four medals as well, two gold, one silver, and one bronze. DiRado came in 2nd twice behind Hungary\u2019s Iron lady, <strong>Katinka Hosszu,\u00a0<\/strong>but the third match-up was the charm.\u00a0DiRado went head-to-head once more with Hosszu in the 200 backstroke. Hosszu dominated most of the race until the last 25 meters when DiRado surged ahead and out-touched the Hungarian superstar.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One may look at Stanford swimming and wonder the secrets behind the success, but coach Meehan assures people that he doesn\u2019t do anything super fancy or different with his team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHonestly, there\u2019s no real secret and that\u2019s the beauty of it,\u201d Meehan commented. \u201cOur staff and teamwork really hard in recruiting to present an honest picture of life at Stanford. And in my obvious biased opinion, life at Stanford is really special and that\u2019s what has attracted some of the best and brightest prospects in the country. They are looking for a world-class education and an opportunity to compete for National Championships on a team with great people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And a National Championship\u00a0they got. The Cardinal dominated last year\u2019s NCAA meet, smashing the competition. They topped the Cal Golden Bears on their way to the largest margin of an NCAA championship victory in 14 years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWell, simply, we always want to get better. \u201c Meehan said. \u201dUsing last year as an example, even though we had such a magical season, there were still things we wanted to do better. That said, it is important to remind myself how far we\u2019ve come since 2012; but then it\u2019s back to finding ways to be better. \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It takes top-level coaching talent to lead a group as strong as this one, but Meehan explains that all it truly takes is a love for what you do and consistency to get the job done.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI absolutely love my job and the people I\u2019m surrounded by and they make it easy to be excited every day. On deck, my goal is to be consistent in my messaging and my personality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_44509\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44509\" data-attachment-id=\"44509\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/meehan-and-slusser-forging-a-culture-of-excellence-at-stanford\/greeg-meehan-cheering-his-swimmers\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Meehan-G-WNCAA-SD-0133.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"3314,1857\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;6.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D4&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1363861965&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.004&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Greeg Meehan cheering his swimmers.&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Meehan G WNCAA SD 0133\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Greeg Meehan cheering his swimmers.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Meehan-G-WNCAA-SD-0133-300x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Meehan-G-WNCAA-SD-0133-1024x573.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-44509 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Meehan-G-WNCAA-SD-0133-1024x573.jpg\" alt=\"Greeg Meehan cheering his swimmers.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"573\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Meehan-G-WNCAA-SD-0133-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Meehan-G-WNCAA-SD-0133-178x99.jpg 178w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Meehan-G-WNCAA-SD-0133-80x45.jpg 80w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Meehan-G-WNCAA-SD-0133-95x54.jpg 95w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Meehan-G-WNCAA-SD-0133-184x103.jpg 184w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-44509\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But he couldn\u2019t do it alone. Meehan needed a competent colleague if he wanted to continue to grow the culture of Stanford swimming the right way, and that\u2019s where\u00a0<strong>Tracy Slusser<\/strong> comes in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cTracy is the very best at what she does. For five-plus years she has been steadfast in her support of the program. She works hard, is an excellent stroke technician and brings joy to the pool deck every day. And as important as anything, Tracy is an incredible role model for these young women. Every day she proves to them it\u2019s possible to raise a family and be elite in your profession,\u201d Meehan said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meehan and Slusser met back in 2006 when he interviewed her for his assistant position when he was head coach at the University of the Pacific. The two connected on several different levels and respected each other&#8217;s outlooks on life and coaching. Although Slusser turned the job down, the two were able to continue their friendship, and when an assistant coaching position opened up at Stanford, Meehan tried once more. This time, Slusser could not say no.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I really respect how genuine and authentic he is as a leader. What you see is what you get,&#8221; Slusser said. &#8220;He is very clear and transparent with what the expectations are and has the ability to push people beyond what they thought they were capable of.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone looks up to someone &#8211; whether it\u2019s looking up to your older sibling or a friend &#8211; everyone has that idol that they hold dear and keep close to remind themselves who they are trying so hard to be every day. For Meehan, that person is his father, the man who helped mold the NCAA Swimming Coach of the Year into the guy he is today. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy dad is someone that I have idolized my whole life,\u201d Meehan said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those people that has such a positive impact on the people that he comes into contact with.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That personality and energy is something that shines through in Meehan as well&#8211; a\u00a0key ingredient in his success as a coach.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;His confidence in them feeds their confidence in themselves. His style of coaching is simply, put in the work and you will get better. It may not be exactly when you want it, but you will get better,&#8221; Slusser noted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a new year, and Stanford swimming is looking strong but the Cardinal know that this year brings\u00a0new challenges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;We did the work. It may not have been pretty but we did the work,&#8221; Slusser commented on the first half of the season. &#8220;We ran into some injuries and sickness this fall. More so than any other season but when we look back at the work we put together though, it&#8217;s very impressive. This fall has been a bit bumpy but we are all better for it.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like many powerhouse teams, they become a target that other high-caliber teams are looking to dismantle&#8211; teams like the Texas A&amp;M Aggies, which topped Stanford at the mid-season Art Adamson Invitational back in November.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s no secret that A&amp;M has been on a steady rise for the last decade,\u201d Meehan said of the Aggies. \u201cThis year is certainly no different and Steve has his team prepared to be great. We look forward to racing them again in March.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stanford swimming is all too familiar with Texas A&amp;M swimming&#8211; a healthy rivalry which hits close to home for Slusser, who served as the women&#8217;s assistant coach for five seasons before departing to coach at the University of Arizona.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The question is does Stanford have enough firepower to answer the call? And the answer: a great big YES. The Cardinal are led by the greatest female freestyler of all time, <strong>Katie Ledecky<\/strong>. Backing her up is not only one of the world\u2019s greatest sprinters, <strong>Simone Manuel,<\/strong> but a team with seemingly endless depth. Although Manuel has been out thus far due to an injury, Meehan assures us that she is back and raring to go.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSimone has progressed really well and is a full go at this point. It will be nice to have her back in the mix for our remaining dual meets, Pac-12s and NCAAs,&#8221; Meehan said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Manuel back, the Cardinal look hard to beat on paper. On top of Olympians leading a loaded filed with names like <strong>Ella Eastin<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Janet<\/strong> <strong>Hu<\/strong>, <strong>Ally Howe<\/strong>, Stanford, also on the Farm has<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0the best freshman class in the nation with No. 1 recruit\u00a0<strong>Brooke Forde<\/strong>, No. 6 recruit,\u00a0<strong>Hannah Kukurugya<\/strong>, No.9 recruit,\u00a0<strong>Lauren Pitzer<\/strong>, and No. 15 recruit,\u00a0<strong>Grace Zhao<\/strong>&#8230;just to name a handful of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_224794\" style=\"width: 829px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-224794\" data-attachment-id=\"224794\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/national-junior-team-member-brooke-forde-verbally-commits-to-stanford\/brooke-forde-stanfors\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brooke-forde-stanfors-e1476142389369.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"918,690\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"brooke-forde-stanford\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;10\/10\/16&lt;br \/&gt;\nbrooke-forde-stanford&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Brooke Forde (Twitter)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brooke-forde-stanfors-e1476142389369-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brooke-forde-stanfors-819x1024.jpg\" class=\"size-large wp-image-224794\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brooke-forde-stanfors-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"brooke-forde-stanford\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-224794\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: Brooke Forde (Twitter)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe love our freshman. They are seven incredible young people who have made a difference from day 1,\u201d Meehan noted. \u201cThey are fun and hard-working and each brings something a little bit different to the team environment. We are certainly glad they chose to continue their journey at Stanford.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stanford seems like an easy pick when it comes to picking this year\u2019s NCAA champion\u2026..at least on paper. But in the world of swimming, anything is possible, especially with hungry teams out there like Texas A&amp;M, Cal, and Texas. Meehan said it himself that not everything goes according to plan. There will always be obstacles. The battle for the national championship will be an interesting one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Guerby Ruuska, Swimming World College Intern.\u00a0 If one was to tune in to all the hype about Stanford women\u2019s swimming in recent years, one would think that their success<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5663,"featured_media":289397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,17],"tags":[27847,64210,25031,25400,60558],"class_list":["post-290698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college","category-commentary","tag-greg-meehan","tag-guerby-ruuska","tag-katie-ledecky","tag-simone-manuel","tag-tracy-slusser"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is 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