Coach Guarriello's Comments Following Thursday's Practice

Oct. 29, 2009

On facing an opponent like LSU
"It's going to be a tough meet. They definitely have an established program. We matched up pretty evenly with them in 2006 but our youth is going to be very evident tomorrow. Our girls are going to get to race high-quality, SEC opponents and that's going to be a really great way to enter our next meet - the invitational at Houston where we're going to be racing girls from Michigan, girls from (Texas) A&M and some other big-time schools. This will be a good prep for that weekend."

On playing an experience LSU team three meets into their first season back in the pool
"I think this is a good meet whether it's the third meet or the 10th week of the season. We've had three weeks to prepare for it, coming off a good meet against North Texas. I think the girls know what they're up against. We've posted times from LSU. They know who they're competing against. They don't seem scared and they're not petrified of swimming an SEC team. They're up for the challenge, which is pretty exciting for the coaches."

On what the team has been working on in practice
"We've been working on patience mostly. A lot of the things we're working on in practice have nothing to do with actual level of ability or skill in the pool. We're really focusing on small, technical aspects of their strokes and races and having the patience to work on changing habits to improve their races. That's really what we've been focusing on. Our volume has been increasing each week and we kind of plateaued this week, which is where we we'll stay for the next couple of weeks. Aside from that, we've really been working on starts, turns, streamlines, the little parts of the race that add up to earning a first place over a second place or a second place over a third place. We've had a lot of really close races and we've been on the losing end of some of those. I really think that in the future, moving forward, the stuff that we've been working on

On who she thinks can have a good meet on Friday
"I really think Grace Tarka is going to have a great meet. She's just a workhorse in practice and she's just as phenomenal in meets. I think she's really ready to have some good races this weekend."

On Kylie Kastes, the only swimmer on the team to participate against an SEC team so far
"Kylie has been great. As far as her work ethic, she's one of the hardest workers in practice. She loves to win and she wants to win. She trains with an SEC mentality which is a great way to show the other swimmers that there's more to you than you think. She knows how to push herself to failure, which is where you have to go sometimes in order to improve. She really does show the other girls how to push their limits in practice and how to take one race at a time in competition. I think she's done a really great job as far as that is concerned. She should have a really good meet this weekend also. Our fly and our backstroke groups are our strongest, so I'm excited to see them race."

On how her goals for the early-season meets
"Our goals are less focused toward winning and more toward growing. The patience I've talked about earlier really applies more to racing than it does training - knowing how to swim properly, not taking them out too hard, working on what we call the little things. I know I keep talking about the little things, but coming back down to fundamentals and perfecting those things in our races are important. Swimming faster people helps us to do that. You're not as focused on what you can do better when you're winning all the time. When you're not winning all the time, you can look back at your race and say `what could I have done better to have been closer in that race or to have won that race.' These bigger, more established teams really allow us to take a good look at ourselves every week and see where we can improve. It also affords us an opportunity to have some really great races against some more established and more experienced teams. I'm looking forward to a few of those this weekend also. Seeing our girls get up and race against some of the better swimmers in the SEC is pretty exciting."

On who has stood out in practice
"Gisele Calderon has been awesome. She's a much improve swimmer. Her times don't necessarily reflect that right now because she's swimming and competing more tired than she ever has in her life. She's working harder now, she's added the weight program to her training regiment, and she's probably training a little more yardage than she has in the past. But she's a very patient swimmer. She's diligent and very coachable, and her improvements show in her races every meet. She gets better with every meet that we have. Rebekah Harris also has improved tremendously since she's been here. She is almost hitting her personal bests at every meet. She's right on top of the best she's ever swam and she's doing it tired."