Hansen Addresses Media
February 19, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Head women's swimming coach Eric Hansen addressed the media on Monday at Wisconsin's weekly Monday news conference at the Kohl Center. Hansen answered questions about the upcoming Big Ten Championships and about the women's season thus far. A full transcript follows.
ERIC HANSEN: We will be competing at the Big 10 Championships in Columbus this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We'll be taking a squad of 28 women: 24 swimmers and 4 divers. We go into the meet with an 8-1 record, our loss coming from the University of Arizona. I think that we're really looking forward to the meet. We have one of the best groups of girls we've ever had. We have a great mix of really talented freshmen, but we also have some very seasoned veterans in our upper class, so we 're looking forward to a great showing. Our primary focus will be the NCAA Championships in a month at the facility, but at the same time, we're looking forward to having a good showing in Columbus.
QUESTION #1: Eric, are you among the favorites to win the Big 10 title'
HANSEN: On the swimming side, I would say so, but it's a combined score. It 's swimming and diving. We're hoping to increase our production in diving throughout the next couple years. I think on the swimming side we're going to be real solid and our relays are going to be solid, which are double points. But, you know, I think we've been one of the best Big 10 teams on the swimming aspect for the majority of the past nine years, but you need that diving component because they score three boards, one of the boards being a 10-meter platform which we don't have, so we're at a little bit of a disadvantage there. But we just worry about the things we can control, and that's swimming fast.
QUESTION #2: Is it tough to find divers' Obviously, you're finding swimmers. Is it tough to find divers'
HANSEN: It is tough to find divers, but, at the same time, I feel like I have the right person for that, and Tommy Michael is my head diving coach. Diving is something that takes time and, you know, he's a guy that has coached the age group level in the grassroots, and some of the kids that we have that are coming up through the ranks now are kids that he's worked with at the grassroots level. So it's just a matter of time before we get the talent in through the door that is really going to help us at that level, and hopefully at the NCAA level, which is our, as I said, main focus.
QUESTION #3: Is that a combined score too, NCAA'
HANSEN: Correct.
QUESTION #4: It is'
HANSEN: Correct.
QUESTION #5: Could you tell us about some of the swimmers that have maybe stood out here this season'
HANSEN: Yeah. I would say one of the people we have returning is one of our co-captains, Jackie Vavrek, who won the 50-free and just missed the Big 10 record. She'll lead us and be a huge part of our relays. We have Gabby Maddalena, one of our best distance swimmers. We have a freshman that is going to be a huge impact girl for us in the name of Maggie Meyer and she will swim on every one of our relays, so obviously she's a key component to our success. But you know, we have, like I said, we have a good group of versatile women. I guess another that comes to mind is Christine Zwiegers. It's just a core group of probably 10 girls that we'll take to the NCAA Championships and they'll all have a role and play a part in our success.
