If it hadn’t been for warm weather, a bright shade of orange and a friendly coach, freshman swimmer Anna DeMonte might have never come to UT.
Hailing from Ann Arbor, Mich., DeMonte was a hot commodity on the swimming recruiting trails last year. Courted not only by the University of Michigan, her hometown team, but also perennial swimming power schools like Texas, she made her decision to come to this UT based off of the connections she had made with coaches and future teammates, not to mention the perks of Tennessee weather.
“What stood apart about it was the family,” DeMonte said. “Everyone down here was just so friendly, and I felt like here I could be at home … . Not to mention, I love the warm weather. Right now, in Michigan, it’s like ten degrees, and down here, I’m in a short-sleeve T-shirt.”
Tennessee wasn’t the only warm weather school DeMonte visited, however, as it came down to a difference in team colors that won her for the Vols.
“For me, it came down to Tennessee and Texas, and I liked bright orange much better.”
A five-star recruit according to Swimming World magazine and 12-time All-American in high school, DeMonte has had an immediate impact in the lanes on Rocky Top, especially in the home finale against Vanderbilt, in which she won two races.
As an IM swimmer, which means her main event is the Individual Medley (an event which uses all four strokes), DeMonte’s versatility and talent has impressed her coaches.
“She’s really multi-talented,” head coach Matt Kredich said. “She’s got really good command of all of her strokes … She is just really good at everything.”
According to her coaches, what truly stands out about DeMonte is not just her talent, but also the intangibles she brings with her in and outside of the pool.
“Anybody who meets her is impressed with her complete enthusiasm, energy and happiness,” Kredich said. “For example, in her recruiting class, there were some other swimmers that were similar to her on paper. But after the first call we had with her, both me and an assistant coach would nearly fight over who would get to talk to her.”
For DeMonte, it was that self-described excitability and energy that ultimately drove her into swimming.
“I started swimming year-round when I was nine when one of my coaches on my summer league thought I was real energetic and could do well,” DeMonte said. “My parents also thought I was way too hyper all the time, and they needed to get me to calm down.
“And trust me, it works,” DeMonte added jokingly while watching her teammates entering the water for practice at the Allen Jones Aquatic Center.
With DeMonte’s first regular season over and the SEC and NCAA championships on the horizon, Kredich has big expectations for his young swimmer.
“I think she’s going to be a great leader,” he said. ” … She’ll definitely be one of our more outspoken swimmers. And I expect her to have a blast at SEC and NCAA this year and learn a lot … By the time she’s done here, she’s going to be scoring a lot of points at NCAA. She’s going to continue to just get better.”
For DeMonte, however, what matters right now isn’t individual performances or the far-off future, but rather the road that lies immediately ahead of her.
“I just want to take it one year at a time,” DeMonte said. “Obviously, my goals for myself are high, but right now I want to be in the moment and do the best I can right now.”
