Florida\u2019s Vanessa Pearl<\/strong> had high expectations going into her first collegiate postseason. Coming out of high school she was an A-Finalist at US Nationals in 2017 and a three-time SEC finalist as a freshman.<\/p>\n

But the grind of training for the SEC Championships, then the NCAA Championships takes a toll on many freshmen.<\/p>\n

Pearl didn\u2019t make any A finals at NCAAs, which was a tough blow for the talented swimmer, but one that motivated her moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not have the meet I hoped for at NCAAs. That was really hard for me. I think there were a couple different factors. After SECs I didn\u2019t have the best training. Mentally it was so hard because the season is so long. I think I was tired and not prepared for a season that was so long because I had never done that in the past,\u201d Pearl told Swimming World<\/em>. \u201cWe came back home and came to the decision we weren\u2019t going to do that again.\u00a0It wasn\u2019t too difficult to shift gears. Coming off of a bad swim, you want to change it right away. It is harder to be motivated after a good swim. That is something I am working on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upperclassmen teammates like Sherridon Dressel<\/strong> helped with that motivation as well. Most swimmers have felt like they underachieved during points of their careers, something that Dressel discussed with Pearl as the Gators have risen to the No. 1 ranking<\/a>.<\/p>\n