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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin women's swimming and diving team is fresh off placing third in the Big Ten Conference meet, its best showing since 2005. Lending an impressive hand was Jess Unicomb, a sophomore from Gold Coast, Australia, who swam in all five relays — including the triumphant 200-yard freestyle foursome — as well as multiple individual events. Unicomb expects to have a similar workload when the Badgers compete in the NCAA championships March 15-18 in Indianapolis. Unicomb committed to UW without ever seeing the campus in person — a family vacation to Hawaii happened to overlap with the Badgers during their annual training excursion — and immediately became a versatile award-winning fixture in the lineup for UW men's and women's coach Whitney Hite. She spoke recently prior to a weight-training session about her heavy workload, a moment of international culture shock and her unique background in water safety.
What do you expect your workload will be at the NCAA meet?
"I am hoping to do the same relays as I did at the Big Ten meet. Then we find out this week officially if I've made any individual events."
In addition to the relays, you have potential qualifying times in the 200 backstroke, the 200 individual medley, 100 back, 50 freestyle, 100 free and 200 freestyle. How did you cultivate all that versatility?
"I came in doing predominantly freestyle and backstroke; the IM has developed over time to what it is today. We practice so many diverse strokes in training — we do all the strokes — so I try to do my best technically in practice and try to get as best as I can in all of them and see what happens."
What do you think is the major challenge in trying to manage such a workload at the NCAA meet?
"I leave the taper up to the coaches — obviously I have some say in it, but I believe in them and what they do — but in terms of my day racing, I pretty much have a strategy and a routine down. … It's all about finishing one race, being excited about it and then kind of putting it aside and coming back and preparing for the next one."
What's your favorite personal performance this season?
"Definitely the Big Ten meet and my favorite performance was the 200 free relay, which we won. It was one of the coolest experiences ever. … The girls on that relay, we all work so hard — the whole team works hard — but I couldn't have asked anyone else to be with."
You need speed and timing to win a relay, but what about chemistry? Do you need that, too?
"I think so. On this team I can't see a relay team not having chemistry because we're all so close."
What is your major and why?
"I haven't declared yet, but I'm hoping to get into the business school at the end of this semester and do marketing and human resources. Why? … After looking at the majors, marketing and human resources sounded like the fit for me. I love working with people and I love being organized."
Is there something you do better than anyone else on your team?
"That's a tough one. I think I really do a good job of seeing things in a positive light, especially after hard practices."
What's been your biggest adjustment to American culture?
"The food. I had heard from a lot of people in Australia that Australian swimmers who go overseas usually get fat. You guys have a lot of extra sugar in your food and we're not used to that in Australia. Especially in my freshman year, being in the dorms and having food readily available was really hard for me to get into a routine … and not get mac and cheese every night. Now that I'm living in an apartment and cooking for myself, it's been a lot easier. I can make my own meals and kind of stick to my schedule like I do back home."
You've competed for years in the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships. How has that helped your swimming career?
"It's another competitive field. It was sort of more fun for me. It was something that I did on the side. I was competitive in it, but there wasn't as much pressure as swimming. … Competitive surf life-saving was a lot of fun for me. I did it from under-eights — I was 7 at the time — until under-15, something like that. It gave me another outlet to expend my energy."
You were part of some winning relays. Can you explain what it's all about?
"We have lifeguards (on the beaches in Australia) and it's basically the rescues they perform in a race format. … They have team events where you do what they call a rescue-tube-rescue which I was a part of. You have one swimmer swim out to a (buoy) and signal for help. Then you get a person with a rubber tube who swims out and connects (to the distressed swimmer). You both swim back in and you have two people drag you up to the beach and the finish line. It's getting to the person and getting them back as fast as you can."
Have you ever been part of an actual rescue?
"I haven't, but I've been on multiple patrols back in Australia. One time that I didn't go, they of course had a rescue, which was kind of annoying because I wanted to see it and be a part of it."
