University of Minnesota Athletics
Nack Sisters Take on Indy Together
3/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Junior Danielle Nack (Mankato, Minn.) is no stranger to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, having competed there the previous two years. But this year will be different. Her younger sister, Chantal Nack, will room with her this week in Indianapolis.
"I'm super excited to have her going, and I'm really proud of her," Danielle said.
Chantal will make her NCAA Championships debut to cap off a breakout sophomore season. After being named one of the Golden Gophers' most improved swimmers last season, she took that improvement to another this season. At the Big Ten Championships, she placed eight in the 200-yard backstroke, ninth in the 500 freestyle and 10th in the 200 freestyle.
"Staying focused and staying motivated is the biggest key," Chantal said. "After last year, I swam one best time and I was happy with that, but I knew I could do better, and I trained all summer really hard. Then coming into this season in the fall, I was super excited and super motivated to get back training with all these swimmers."
She also said training with members of the men's team in head coach Kelly Kremer's group helped with motivation for both teams. During the fall, both Nacks practiced in the sprint group on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"We did a lot of max heart rate sets together," Chantal said. "It's kind of fun. We push each other. We get motivated and we also get kind of competitive when it comes to those kind of sets, but it was a lot of fun training with her."
Danielle is the Gophers' top butterfly swimmer, also placed fifth in the 50 freestyle at Big Tens and brings the team's best 200 freestyle time into the NCAA meet. She was part of all five Minnesota relays that qualified for the national meet. Both sisters said they are looking forward to this week's relays, especially the 400 and 800 freestyle relays in which they will swim together.
"Our entire life, growing up, we've always been close," Danielle said. "We've been able to turn to each other for advice, support, and that friendship has always been there. Being able to go to college together and not alone and swim together, it's been awesome. Having her there, it always takes that pressure off. I'm really excited to be going to NCs. I think this will be really helpful. The last two years I've been with a group of girls that have been older, so I've kind of been the younger one traveling. To be a leader on this team now and have my sister, it's been an honor."
Both Nacks look forward to the meet's atmosphere and high level of competition. Their parents will be in the stands cheering them on. And at the end of each day in Indianapolis, they will be able to rehash the races and look forward to the next ones together in their hotel room.
"Traveling with your sister, I don't think it can get much better than that," Danielle said. "I think we have a really good group of girls going, so I'm super excited to see what we can throw down this weekend."
The NCAA Championships run March 15-18. Ten Gophers will compete in individual events, and Minnesota was invited to race in all five relays.
Nack 2016-17 Top Times at a Glance
Danielle
50 free: 22.36
100 free: 49.27
200 free: 1:45.27
100 fly: 52.68
200 fly: 1:56.46
Chantal
200 free: 1:46.36
500 free: 4:41.84
200 back: 1:55.15
Players Mentioned
