Deep Dive with Emily Cook

Coming off of her most impressive season donning Maroon & Gold, senior backstroke star Emily Cook is ready to get the 2020-21 season underway. The Portland, Ore. native's junior campaign was filled with impressive performances, notching 15 different top-three performances throughout her journey to earning her first ever NCAA individual bid in the 100 back during her lead off of the fifth place 400 Medley Relay at the 2019-20 Big Ten Championships.

Cook took a break from summer training last week to catch up with Gopher Sports on how her "extended break" has been, her future aspirations, and more.

GopherSports: What have you been doing to keep busy the past few months?
Cook: "The first few months I was at home with my two younger sisters, and we were just trying out different ways to work out. Then, my youngest sister and I started using our neighbors pool to swim in, and as the weather got warmer we did some open water swimming in some lakes that were pretty close to our house. Outside of exercising, finishing up school kept me pretty busy through like the beginning of May. I tried to naturally dye a few shirts with turmeric and coffee. The turmeric worked well, but the coffee did not turn out well at all. I had seen something on Instagram and I thought "Oh this could be really cool," but it just did not work for me at all. For the month of June, my mom, middle sister and I did a road trip across the country to go to our lake house in upstate New York on Lake George, so I had been there until the beginning of July. Now we're trying to make our way back home, but our car broke down, so we're in the paused position right now."

GS: How did you like the change of pace in open water swimming?
Cook: "It's nice to be outside, but I personally do not enjoy open water swimming at all. You still get a feel for the water and just being in the water is nice because there's nothing really like swimming in that it's kind of hard to get it in any other form, but it was definitely an adjustment. I personally got really frustrated at the beginning just because that's not the type of swimming I do. I'm definitely more sprint oriented and I use my walls a lot too, so those were two of the things I didn't really have the opportunity to do. It was definitely an adjustment."

GS: How would you assess your 2019-20 season and what are your biggest takeaways?
Cook: "I guess the highlight was qualifying for NCAAs individually because that was also a bit of a surprise originally. I wasn't sure if I would because I was right on the cut off. After Big Tens I went to an Ohio last chance meet with Jesse, our coach, and Abbey Kilgallon as a last chance to qualify. I didn't go any faster there, but I had a lot of fun traveling with them. So, that was another fun little thing, but definitely qualifying individually for NCAAs was the highlight. Overall, I would say I was happy with it, but just particulars about it I wasn't super happy with. Obviously it was a bummer having the season cut short though."

GS: What were the emotions going through your head when you found out you had recieved that bid?
Cook: "I had just gotten back from Ohio and I think it was a Monday. One of my teammates had texted me because SwimSwam sends out a pre-scratch psych sheet saying "Hey, they just posted this and you're 37th (or whatever the number was) and it looks like you'll probably make it!" The list isn't approved by anyone, but they somehow have access to that and they'll send out one with peoples official events, but the list isn't official. Anyways, I was like, "Ah, no way, that's crazy." I wasn't even going to go to practice that day or anything, but then I got a call from Jesse with Maddy and Kelly, and he said "Well, it looks like you might be scratched in, so we're going to have you come into practice." I was like, "Oh my gosh, no way!" because I didn't want to get my hopes up. I was thinking, "Well if they only take 36 this year, then I don't want to be super excited and then bummed," so I was kind of like holding off. They sent out the official list on Wednesday, but Tuesday was the hardest practice ever because I'd been tapering for so long. It was like an IM aerobic set and I remember thinking, "I don't even think I can make it through this practice, so we'll see." But then, I was tied for the last invited spot, so that was cool. I remember I was like "I can't believe this is actually happening." After Big Tens I was just expecting not to make it, so it was a really nice surprise and I was really excited. I called my mom right away and she was really happy for me. Everyone was just really happy for me. I got a bunch of texts from my teammates. I had just gotten out of class, and they were all like "Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you!" So yeah, it was really cool."

GS: Do you have another goal set for this upcoming season?
Cook: "I would like to make top-three at Big Tens in the 100 back, and then obviously qualify again for NCAAs."

GS: Who is a teammate that really impressed you this past season?
Cook: "Emma Lezer was really impressive. She did really well at Big Tens and as a freshman, she seems really mature. She's just a really nice girl. Also, Olivia Bloomer is really impressive. She's just a really good person to train with, she has a really good attitude, and she did really well at Big Tens also. She's a really good training partner, she does really well in practice and she was able to either meet or almost meet a lot of goals for this last season."

GS: Is there someone you'd tab as the next "breakout" Gopher?
Cook: "I would actually like to see Abbey Kilgallon be the next break out swimmer because she works really hard. Traveling with her to Ohio, we were able to get a lot closer because we don't train in the same group, so I don't spend a ton of time with her. Also, she's a year below me and I came in later as a transfer. She just works really hard and she just deserves it. She was so close to making NCAAs this last year, and I know that's definitely a big goal of hers for next year."

GS: Can you just dive into that relationship you built with Abbey on your trip to Ohio?
Cook: "Our team is pretty large, so it's hard to get to know everyone because we're separated into two groups. I mean, I've talked to her before, but we had never spent a lot of time together alone, so just being able to travel with the three of us, Abbey and Jesse, I was able to get to know them both a little better. I think people are different too when they're in a small group rather than a big group and you can actually get to know them on a personal level, so it was just fun. We just kind of talked about the most random things, she was super supportive of me the whole entire time I was there and I was cheering her on for her mile that she was swimming, so it was nice getting to know her a little better."

GS: Is there a particular swimmer that you look up to or try to emulate in the water?
Cook: "I looked up to Chantal Nack a lot because she had improved so much over her four years, but also she was very humble and she carried herself very well. Sometimes when swimmers get really fast, it's hard to stay grounded, but she was always super supportive and super encouraging no matter what the level of the person is. I respect that a lot about her and anyone who's able to be an elite athlete, but also has respect and appreciation for people at levels below them. I don't know a lot of elite athletes personally to know if they act in that way, but I guess anyone who has that humble quality. For me, it just makes me respect them a lot more because they understand the amount of work, effort and time that people put in who maybe aren't necessarily receiving the same results, but they still have that dedication and drive."

GS: As another member of this program who's excelling academically, what's the importance of academics to you?
Cook: "Academics has always been very important to me. I don't know why I feel the need to do all of my homework all of the time; I've wondered that about myself plenty. I think being a student athlete just in general has given me a lot of really important skills, time-management being the biggest one. I think it's really important to be well-rounded also. Obviously, if you're the number one swimmer in the world or the number one athlete, you can focus a little more on swimming or whatever you're best at. I think it's always good to take a little more time to do that, but I have always seen myself as an "equal-parts" person, so academics are just as important to me as swimming is. Sometimes swimming might be going better, so I'll focus on that a little more, or the same for academics. It just always gives you something else to think about rather than always thinking about swimming, and I think that's always been really helpful for me. When I get a little one-track minded, it doesn't always end up that great for me just because I'll start overthinking it. That has helped me balance myself and where my mind is at."

GS: How do you think your time as a Gopher has prepared you for your future?
Cook: "I'll just say I think transferring is the best decision I've ever made. I think it's really helped shape me into the person I am, and I think being on the team and being around so many different people has really helped open my eyes and helped prepare me and give me the tools that I need to even just get through this pandemic. I think it's been really helpful and I love all the coaches, I love training with all the people, and just being able to reach out to other people that are right now going through a similar thing I'm going through, so that just, in this moment, has been really helpful to have that support system there."

GS: What comes after school for you?
Cook: "Honestly, I couldn't tell ya. I think this summer has made me realize that, even if you make a plan, it probably isn't going to work out. So, I'm just waiting to see when it gets a little bit closer because you never really know what's going to happen. Even just getting stranded on our way home, my mom has made three different plans and none of them have worked out yet so. I would say my dream is to work for an apparel company and do something related to design or product development. I hope it's a brand that I like and support, but I don't have a certain preference to it. There's this company called Older Brother based in Portland who does ethically, sustainably made clothes. It's more boutique-esque and it's very small on a production scale, so that's always been a dream of mine. I'm just more open to other things now too."

GS: What is your favorite part of being a Gopher?
Cook: "My favorite part has been just being able to practice with everyone, which I probably wouldn't have said if I was still swimming all the time, but being away has made me miss the practices and the community. After a hard practice, being able to go into the locker room and talk about how hard it was, and just getting through something challenging together."

GS: The 2019-20 season was filled with adversity. How did you see the team's strength shine through while dealing with that?
Cook: "I think from the very beginning, coming back from the summer, Max McHugh and Nick Saulnier... I think they did a really good job at taking care of themselves and just doing whatever they needed to do. I think that also helped a lot of other people realize this is really hard, but if those guys that went through this are working on getting through it, then everyone else can get through whatever they need. If whatever happened is hard for you, you can work through it, and there's plenty of people to help you get through whatever you're feeling. You can talk to our coaches, our trainers, someone in sport psych, there are just so many different options for you to figure it out and talk through your feelings. Another big thing is just taking everything one day at a time. Like, there might be a day that's really hard, but there's also always tomorrow. You don't know what tomorrow might be like, but time will continue to move forward. Today might be really hard, but it will be over eventually. We talk a lot about controlling things you can control, which is like a lifelong skill. Hearing that over and over again helps you remember that, "Yeah this sucks, but I'm doing everything I can to make it better for myself and after a certain point, there's only so much I can control.""

GS: In your opinion, how can this team pick up the leadership it may have lost with two really powerful swimmers in Tevyn Waddell & Lindsey Kozelsky graduating?
Cook: "Personally I think that leadership comes in a lot of forms. Tevyn and Lindsey were awesome. Lindsey set an amazing example. She was in grad school while she was swimming, and a lot of times she was in class with students when we were practicing. Completing practices on your own is so hard and I was so amazed with her the entire year because she'd just come in and do the work on her own. Some of the practices we would do, I didn't understand how she can do them by herself. Tevyn also has been a leader on the team since she's gotten there. She won Big Tens her freshman year and she performs really well at dual meets, so she was a really strong leader in that aspect. She was a lot of help for me when I first got to Minnesota too. But, I think there's a lot of people who have already been leaders in other ways, like organizing a women's team event, cheering people on in practice, being a good example in practice or just being someone people can talk to just because they're really personable and people feel comfortable going to them. So, I think it's already there, and I think a lot of people will step up more than they have been. Maybe they'll have the label of a captain, so they kind of seem like more of a leadership figure, but I think a lot of people do a really good job of being leaders without having that label or being the number one swimmer. Although, I do think being the top swimmer, you have an expectation of being able to lead the team and setting an example for the team as well."

GS: Are there any swimmers you've noticed stepping into that role already?
Cook: "I think Brittany Horn, Abbey Erwin, and Patricia Van Law all do a really good job. Even in just communicating with the underclassmen or making sure everyone is on the same page and knows information. Brit is great at organizing events and communicating with swimmers and the coaches, and same with Abbey. Honestly, there are so many people, I couldn't name all of them, but I think those three for sure will be a big part of the leadership for the next year."

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Players Mentioned

Olivia Bloomer

Emily Cook

Abbey Erwin

Brittany Horn

Abbey Kilgallon

Lindsey Kozelsky

Emma Lezer

Chantal Nack

Patricia Van Law

Tevyn Waddell