While March Madness and the quest for the perfect bracket might be grabbing the sports headlines for the next month, one Tennessee athletic team enters into their postseason with arguably the most momentum to truly make a splash.
With the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships starting up Thursday, the Lady Vols will look to ride their hot streak into the postseason.
“We have a lot of momentum going in,” All-American sophomore breaststroker Molly Hannis said. “And some of the girls have just scratched the surface of what they’re going to do. For some of them, I think they’re really going to break out at NCAAs.”
Hannis is just one of ten swimmers and two divers making the trek up to Indianapolis for the meet.
On the season, the Lady Vols, who finished fourth in last month’s SEC Championships, have lost only one duel meet, and a big reason for that has been the youth movement led by freshman Faith Johnson, who in addition to taking the SEC title in the 50 freestyle, is one of five freshman to make the trip to NCAAs.
“Almost half the girls are freshman,” Hannis said. “And that’s awesome for us going into that meet with us as upperclassmen to try and help guide them through this.”
Senior diver Jodie McGroarty shares Hannis’ sentiments about the freshman competitors, whom she feels will have an advantage due to their age.
“It’s so great to see so many freshman on the team because this will be such a great eye opening experience for them, and, all though they don’t know what to expect, their naiveté is an advantage for them,” McGroarty said. “… They don’t have anything to compare it to. They can go in, do their thing and see what happens.”
On the other end of the spectrum, the Lady Vols will also be bringing three seniors, McGroarty, butterflyer Kelsey Floyd, who made the finals in the last Olympic trials, and freestyler Caroline Simmons, who will all look to put up big points in their final go-arounds in the Orange and White.
“This is their last chance to represent (UT) and they all did that at SECs,” head coach Matt Kredich said. “… With this being the last time, it will allow them to drop some of the thoughts that get in their own way and just have freedom to compete.”
For McGroarty, her focus for her last meet is on the performances of her teammates, especially junior diver Tori Lamp, herself, and the competition at hand.
“There’s (a) point in the competition where things get really exciting and there’s parts where it doesn’t, and you can only gauge it when you’re in it,” McGroarty said. “And that’s what is great about having teammates that can compete with you, you can use each other for support.”
For head diving coach Dave Parrington, McGroarty and Lamp, last year’s national runner-up in the Platform event, both have better than good chances at making waves in the home of the Indy 500.
“It’s a wide-open field,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Tori and Jodie will be very competitive in the field.”
Other swimmers making the trip will be juniors Lindsay Gendron, who will be competing in three individual events as well as relays, Lauren Solernou, and freshman Harper Bruens, Mary Griffith, Madison Hahn and Amanda Carner.
While the team will not be taking the largest team to the championships, their talent will certainly make them a team to watch.
“We’re definitely a force to be reckoned with,” McGroarty said. “… We don’t have the depth of Georgia and some other teams, but we’ll definitely give them a run for their money, which is what it’s all about.”
