For the Tennessee men’s swimming and diving team, the theme of the coming NCAA Championships is simple: moving forward.
After a turbulent year that saw the Vols lose their head coach of 20-plus seasons in John Trembley over issues of addiction and “fantasy communications,” then join with the women’s to form a combined program, and eventually finish with only a .500 record in the regular season. If the NCAA Championships were held in January, those negatives would be the storyline that UT would carry with them into the competition. But then the SEC Championships came and (like everything else in this season) the script changed.
“We performed amazing at SECs, we shocked a lot of people,” senior All-American freestyler Ed Walsh said. “And that just gave us so much energy and positivity.”
For Walsh, who’s been through the ups-and-downs of the past, the Vols’ fourth-place finish at the SEC Championships was the culmination of over a year’s worth of hard work.
“The team, we’re taking a lot of guys, and it’s a good group of guys who have been gelling together as a team and as a unit,” said Walsh. “It’s going to be a good NCAAs not just for me, but the entire team.”
With Walsh as the only senior swimmer, the Vols are taking six athletes to Indianapolis for the three-day meet, including senior diver Brent Sterling, juniors Samuel Rairden and Renato Prono, sophomore Tristan Slater and freshman Sean Lehane.
Rairden is the only Vol entered in three individual events as he will compete in the 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly. He swam these exact same events at the SEC Championships in February, taking second in all three. On the boards, Sterling, a three-time NCAA qualifier, is looking to get over the hump and score for the first time at the NCAA Championships.
“I was close last year,” Sterling said. “If I do what I’ve been doing this year, then I should score, just looking at past results. That’s definitely my goal.”
Head diving coach Dave Parrington has faith in his scrappy five-foot-six diver.
“I like Brent’s chances to get up there and make finals,” he said. “He’s been twice before, so he’s got good experience under his belt … He’s got better and better every year and now it’s his time to shine. It would be an awesome way to finish his career.”
For Parrington, however, this attitude is something he shares with all of his athletes.
“Every time I go into a meet, I take my divers in there to win,” he said.
Sterling, like Walsh, views the NCAA Championships as an opportunity for the Vols to move beyond the past.
“My freshman year, we were a Top 10 program,” said Sterling. “But after a couple down years, it’s been really exciting to get back to where we were.”
Walsh, speaking as the team captain, summed up not only Sterling’s feelings but also the team before practice on Monday.
“At NCAAs, at the pinpoint of the mountain, we’re going to use all the energy we’ve had all season to bring it in one last time to show everyone that we’re not a team that’s bouncing back,” Walsh said. “We’re stepping forward.”
