Motivation the Key to Johnson's Success
December 28, 2004 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Since Susan Johnson was a little kid, she knew she would be swimming at the collegiate level. She started swimming competitively when she was six years old. With an older brother swimming at Northwestern and an older sister swimming at Georgetown, Johnson knew it was right for her.
'It wasn't so much my parents pushing me, it was more that I wanted to be like my siblings,' said Johnson. 'I had been around collegiate swimming for a long time, so I knew what it was like coming into it. It has always been a dream of mine to swim in college, and there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to swim at the collegiate level.'
Johnson looked at California, Michigan and Wisconsin as her top choices of schools. After visiting them, Johnson was hooked on Wisconsin.
'I knew that the University of Wisconsin was not only a great academic institution, but I really liked the swimming program and how it was up and coming,' said Johnson. 'It wasn't a staple in the top 10 yet, and I really wanted to be a part of a developing program.'
Coming to Wisconsin has surely paid off for Johnson. In just her second season, Johnson was a U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier in the 200-yard backstroke, earned one All-America selection and honorable mention All-America three times. In addition, she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, holds school records in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke, the 100- and 200-yard butterfly and the 200- and 400-yard medley relay, and has been named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week three times.
In only her sophomore year, Johnson has put in a tremendous amount of time and effort into being the outstanding swimmer she is. Johnson does her best to stay motivated everyday in practice and workouts.
'I stay motivated by trying to improve everyday and I really like swimming for the team,' said Johnson. 'Basically having them stand behind me is a lot of my motivation. I really like swimming for them as well as for myself. '
In practice there are different groups for the different types and distances of races. Johnson is in the middle distance group, with assistant coach Kari Woodall as her primary coach. The team practices twice a day, with different days focusing on each individual stroke.
'I really enjoy the group and Kari is a great coach. We get really close'being together all the time helps me to improve,' said Johnson. 'Pushing each other in practice has made the entire team better, and it has shown with where we have been ranked (top 15) throughout this season.'
Swimming isn't the only thing the team does together. Having two practices a day and class all day long in between isn't easy. Johnson and her fellow teammates help each other in both school and swimming. Being a biology major and looking into the School of Nursing, Johnson really has her work cut out for her with a pretty difficult course schedule, just like the rest of her teammates and roommates.
'I like to hang out with my roommates, who are also swimmers,' said Johnson, referring to Caroline Ackley, Liz Klanderman, Sierra Lewis and Christine Wanezek. 'Always being together helps us stay focused in both school and the pool.'
Thus, Johnson's motivation is drawn not only from within, but also from the support of coaches and teammates. They are the ones who help remind her each day that she is living out a dream'swimming on the collegiate level.
