University of Minnesota Athletics
Big Ten Quotes From Event Champions, 2/10/07
2/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
1650 Freestyle champion Yuen Kobayashi, Minnesota
On being a Big Ten champion:
“It feels great. It has been a rough meet for me, so I just came in here and did what I could. It is great to have a gold medal.”
On preparing for the NCAA championships:
“I was already focusing on the NCAA’s before I came in to this meet. I am so happy that I was able to get a gold at the Big Ten Championships and I think it will help me in March.”
200 backstroke champion Presley Bard, Indiana
On the success of her team in the event:
“It feels awesome to represent my school and to get out there are score points for my team.”
On the pressure of being the No. 1 seed:
“It actually gave me more motivation to go out there and keep my spot and to earn more points for my team.”
On Indiana’s lead in the meet:
“This is our goal. We always say that we’re a third day team. We get stronger as the meet goes on. This is what we train for – we train so hard and we know coming into the third day that we’re going to have a lot left and that’s not always the case for other teams.”
100 Freestyle champion Lindsey Smith, Michigan
On her mindset coming into the heat:
“I approached it a lot like the 200: I went as fast as I could and just tried to hang on. I am not worried about getting first or second or wherever I end up. I was really happy with my time and that is the most important thing to me.”
On her team’s performance thus far:
“I think our team is doing great. We have had a great meet—a lot of best times. Overall, we’re really happy with how we have done.”
200 breaststroke champion Yi Ting Siow, Wisconsin
On her approach to the event:
“I expected to win the race, but that wasn’t [my focus]. I was a little bit nervous, but I just think that I was giving myself a little bit of pressure and I shouldn’t be because I’ve been training so hard. Its not worth it to make myself nervous because usually I race with a more relaxed, longer stroke but today I kind of rushed my stroke, which I shouldn’t [be doing]. I definitely won’t make that mistake at NCAAs.”
On how her approach will change at NCAAs:
“I need to have a longer and stronger stroke. I’ve been working on my [my pullouts] in practice. Usually, I’m faster out of my pullouts than most of the guys.”
400 freestyle relay champions Margaret Kelly, Kaitlyn Brady, Hannah Smith and Lindsey Smith, Michigan
On their victory:
“It was really exciting. It was good to come out in that last race and put that relay together. It’s a good preview of what is to come from us at NCAAs.”
On their focus going into the NCAAs with the same four swimmers in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays:
“We are just focused on ourselves – that’s all that we can control. We’ll make little changes that we need to from here on out and see what happens. Its been our relay all year, so its exciting to feed off each other.”
200 Yard Butterfly champion Allison Kay, Indiana
On being a Big Ten champion:
“Amazing. It is the only word I can think of.”
On maintaining an early lead:
“Actually, I did not even know I was in the lead until I saw one of my teammates behind the block. I could hear everyone and see my teammates out of the corner of my eye and realized that I was either first or close to it.”
On the team’s performance:
“I think everyone is doing a great job and the freshman are really stepping up. We are all acting like experienced professionals.”
Platform diving champion Christina Loukas, Indiana
On her approach to the platform after her success on the springboard:
“I don’t really consider myself a platform diver. I just went up there just thinking to get after each of my dives. If I missed them, I missed them. I wasn’t too concerned about that. I just wanted to dive well. I just went after everything and I did my best and it turned out well.
“I’m terrified up there. Its hard to go up there. [Each dive] is pretty scary. I just wanted to do my best. I’m still in shock that I just won on the 10-meter.”
On being the Big Ten champion in all three diving events:
“I knew I was capable of winning all three, but I wasn’t really considering it. I just wanted to go after my dives. I see myself as a springboard diver. I knew I had a good chance [in the springboard events], but the 10-meter I wasn’t so sure about. I’m just excited because my coach is really happy and now he’s telling me that I can be a tower diver.”
Big Ten coach of the year Ray Looze, Indiana
On winning the Big Ten title and coach of the year:
“We had a great year and this is a team championship. I just play a role on the staff like the rest of the team does—big team win. This is always fun. It never gets old. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure this is what I do for a living.”
On watching his team step up to the challenge:
“It was great because the first session did not start too well for us. Our team really grew a lot as the meet progressed. If you would have told me after the first day that we would finish on top I probably would not have believed you.”
Big Ten diving coach of the year Jeff Huber, Indiana
On being the Big Ten champions:
“It has been a long year. It is more of a relief than anything. This team has a lot of character and a lot of talent and I’m just more relieved that we lived up to our enormous potential.”
On being named Big Ten diving coach of the year:
“Well I did not make one dive this weekend. This is really the diver’s award. This is not something that our team lucked into. They have trained really hard and it is great to see a couple of our seniors go out in style.”
Players Mentioned
