TicketsDec. 1, 2010
By Jeff Gentil
GoBEARCATS.com
While the rest of her teammates will be in Oxford at the Miami Invitational this weekend, Liz Hannson will be in Columbus competing at the United States Swimming Short Course National Championship.
Hannson, a junior from Lund, Sweden, earned the right to compete in this prestigious meet after reaching time standards in four separate events - the 100 and 200 backstroke, along with the 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle. Although this meet will have no bearing on her status in the BIG EAST, it could certainly impact her ability to qualify for the NCAA Championships, something Coach Monty Hopkins says is even harder than Olympic qualifying.
"If she swims very well she could make NCAA qualifying (marks) because so few swimmers are permitted to compete," he said. "Last year only about 30 swimmers were invited to the NCAA Championship meet in the 100 and 200 backstroke events."
Despite the extreme competition, Hannson is excited to see how she stacks up against the rest of the country.
"I'll be really nervous," she said. "I always get real nervous before meets. But, I'm super excited. It will be a lot of fun to see what I can do."
Nervous is perfectly fine, but, if Hannson gets stressed and puts pressure on herself, she won't be at her best according to Hopkins: "She races best when she is motivated and positive. Too much pressure won't make her faster so the best approach is to relax and enjoy the experience of swimming fast at a big meet."
"I have to think really positive thoughts," Hannson said. "It's much easier to swim when I'm relaxed. Of course I'll be focused on my times, but I just want to take in the environment and tell myself this is what I want to be doing and just have fun."
With the format set by the meet, Hannson will swim the 200 individual medley Thursday followed by the 100 backstroke on Friday. On Saturday, she will have to race twice - the 200 backstroke and 100 freestyle. There will be qualifying races in the morning with the finals at night.
"Liz is qualified #37 in 100 back, #22 in 200 back, #53 in 100 free, and #80 in 200 I.M.," Hopkins said. "So you can see that she needs to swim really fast, personal best times and then some if she wants to make the finals. This is a very high quality event for December."
Some of the big names expected to compete at the meet include: Olympic Gold Medalist Kara Lynn Joyce; World Record holder Jessica Hardy; National Champions Elaine Breeden, Julia Smit, and Missy Franklin; and NCAA Champion Gemma Spofforth. Hannson, a double-major in Marketing and International Business, isn't the only Bearcat swimmer to qualify for this special meet. Stephanie Conklin and Josefin Wade also reached the specific time standards, but chose to swim at the Miami meet instead.
"This is the weekend before (final) exams," Hopkins said. "So we have to be careful with the students' time. Liz feels like she is on top of her school work and will be able to spend the time at this meet."
Hopkins maintains that he doesn't like to put pressure on individual performers by making bold predictions, but is cautiously optimistic about Hannson's chances.
"We will start with hoping for personal best times and go from there," he said. "Liz has been training well and swimming very fast. I see every reason to be optimistic. She had a great meet at Purdue last weekend including posting the third fastest UC time ever in the 200 I.M. and 10th fastest freestyle. I would love to see Liz break four school records at the meet, but that is a very lofty goal for a mid-season competition. The main thing is that she races well on short rest and continue to progress the way she has so far."
"I definitely want to reach personal bests," Hannson said. "Setting the school record in the 200 back would be pretty cool, too. Also making the "B" cut for the NCAA meet."
No matter how she does this weekend in Columbus, it will be an invaluable training and motivating tool for Hannson as she prepares for the second half of the season, the BIG EAST Championships, the NCAA Championships, and perhaps even bigger events.
"Qualifying for the NCAA Championships is the most significant short term goal," Hopkins said. "There are additional competitive opportunities for Liz since she is Swedish. She could swim at national meets in Sweden and try to make the national team there. This meet will prepare her for both, especially if she were to make an NCAA standard."
When she came over to the United States for college over two years ago, competing for the Swedish national team was not something Hannson thought was possible. Things have changed.
"I didn't believe I could do it before," she said. "When I came over my freshman year was not good at all. I was injured, there were a lot of changes in my life, and I just did not perform at all. My sophomore year, I started improving right around this time and really came on late and scored at the BIG EAST meet. Now, I'm doing much better, I'm more consistent in my swimming and I truly think I'm getting closer and closer to believing I could (qualify for the Swedish team)."