Diving in with Gavin Olson and Johnny Mindt

Diving in with Gavin

Favorite hobby (outside of sports): hiking, biking, skiing, fishing, anything outdoors
Favorite musical artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Brothers Osborne, Led Zeppelin
Favorite TV show or movie: The Office
Favorite professional team: Denver Broncos
Favorite restaurant: Chili's
Biggest fear: I fear nothing
Biggest pet peeve: rude people
Person you'd most like to meet: Leonardo DiCaprio
Dream vacation spot: New Zealand
Sport you'd like to try but never have: hockey

Diving in with Johnny

Favorite Author: Rick Riordan
Favorite hobby (outside of sports): fishing and weightlifting
Favorite musical artist: Mac Miller and Big Sean
Favorite TV show or movie: That 70's Show
Favorite restaurant: my mom's kitchen
Biggest fear: drowning
Biggest pet peeve: being woken up prematurely
Person you'd most like to meet: Leonardo DiCaprio
Dream vacation spot: Bahamas
Sport you'd like to try but never have: cross country

With the 2019-20 swimming and diving season just weeks away, GopherSports.com sat down each of Minnesota's 24 newcomers in order to get to know them better prior to the team's Oct. 11 opener at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

Up next are freshmen Gavin Olson and Johnny Mindt. Olson, a backstroker from Littleton, Colo., is a three-time state champion in the 100 back. He is a 2019 graduate of Columbine High School.

Hailing from Mandan, N.D., Mindt represents the first diver in this year's Q&A series. Throughout his career at Mandan High School, Mindt captured three state diving championships and set a state meet record as a senior with an 11-dive total of 526.55 points.

GopherSports: Why did you choose to attend the University of Minnesota?
Olson: "It's really simple actually. The people are very nice and the atmosphere here is like none other. Everybody has a lot of pride in the 'M.' You see people wearing the 'M,' maroon and gold, tattoos everywhere – it's crazy. Obviously, the swim team stood out to me too. It's a really cool atmosphere there as well."
Mindt: "Wenbo Chen. He's the best coach, I think, personally."

GS: When did you first start swimming, and when did you know that you wanted to compete collegiately?
Olson: "I started swimming when I was five years old competitively, so I've been doing it my whole life. I took some breaks here and there, but I was doing summer club at five years old and then I started competitive club swimming at 12 years old. I guess that was right when I knew that this was the sport for me."
Mindt: "My dad dived in college for UMD in the 80's and I was always raised diving growing up. My dad would just take me to the pool here and there. My sister, she dove in high school and in college at Morehead State."

GS: What would you say is your biggest strength in the pool, and what is one thing you're hoping to improve this year?
Olson "I'd say my strength is backstroke, that's how I'm here. Breaststroke is my worst stroke, so I could improve there moving forward."
Mindt: "For improving, probably just fundamentals and cleaning up my dives a lot more. My strength would be my personal strength. I'm pretty strong, so it often comes easy."

GS: What is the most memorable moment of your swimming/diving career?
Olson: "I had one meet in Texas where I did really well. I placed second in a couple things, but they were to Daniel Carr, who is a swimmer at California. It was just really inspirational to me. He's such a good person and he showed me the sport is more than just swimming. It's about being happy, liking what you're doing, enjoying the ride and helping people get to the next level that aren't as good as you."
Mindt: "I broke the state record in North Dakota in 2019. That was big for me."

GS: Who has been your biggest mentor or inspiration throughout your career?
Olson: "I'd say Daniel Carr for sure. He's really cool. Of course, another would be Michael Phelps. I can't not include him."
Mindt: "My dad. He's always been there for me. He was always taking me to the pool."

GS: Did you play any other sports growing up or in high school?
Olson: "I'm from Colorado, so I was on the ski team. I played soccer as a little kid, but I hated it. I've always just swam."
Mindt: "When I was a kid, I played soccer, baseball and football. In high school, I did track. I did wrestling in middle school, too."

GS: What are you looking forward to most throughout the upcoming season?
Olson: "Impacting the team. Hopefully, I can put down some times where I'll impact the team and maybe make it to NCAAs. I'd also like to score well at Big Tens."
Mindt: "Just to become better. Get better than last year. One year at a time."

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Johnny Mindt

Gavin Olson