Jan. 31, 2013
Texas head men's swimming and diving coach Eddie Reese
On the Arizona-SMU meet
Any time we have a meet we would like to win it but we will not sacrifice our training to do so. We are going to try to swim fast. Arizona is going to swim fast, and SMU will be fast.
On the importance of winning the meets vs. Arizona and SMU
If you had not told me what our record was, I would not have known. All that matters to us is our conference meet. We want to win conference. We have to do well enough there to get to the NCAA. Our success is predicated on what we do on one weekend. We do not have to win everything like football and basketball, which is a good thing for me. Those coaches have a hard job. I wait until the end and then start resting the swimmers.
On the senior class
The seniors have been great this year. They have taken the leadership in the water and out. In fact, some of them are not swimming as fast as they normally would because they have been working so hard. I appreciate that. We all want them to work hard, but sometime this group works harder than I have asked them to work. We have had great leadership out of our seniors, and with this being our Senior Day we should have some great performances out of them.
On the home pool advantage
Home pool advantage is not as big of an advantage as you would think because everyone likes to come here. It is one of the fastest pools in the world. If you have the ability to swim fast, this is where you do it. We have had many NCAA (Championship) meets here. We have been bad at some and good in others, so there is no consistency for us.
On whether there is a race he is looking forward to seeing this weekend
We have got four guys that we think have already made it to the NCAA meet with their times and we have about six that are on the bubble. I would love to see them put it away this weekend. Conference is normally where we do it, but I would hate to wait until conference.
On Dax Hill
Dax will swim all the freestyles and a couple of relays this weekend. He has probably had the best year of work in the weight room and in the water that he has ever had. And because of that, he may seem a bit slower. Swimming is funny in that way; the harder you work, the slower you go. I have always asked Dax to work hard and he always has, but this year he is going harder and he has been beat a few times. But, that will not happen at the end of the year. I am hoping to include this meet as the end of the year.
Three-time NCAA champion senior swimmer Dax Hill
On what this meet means to him
It is our Senior Day and our last home dual meet, so it would mean a lot to beat Arizona. They are a great team with a bunch of great swimmers and coaches. It will be a real test of where we are this season.
On the momentum of this meet
I do not look at it like it is that type of meet, a momentum-building meet. There are probably four teams that work as hard as we do, Arizona being one of them. This meet is more about seeing where we are going into the Big 12 meet and figuring out how much rest we need, who needs more rest and who needs less rest to prepare for NCAAs.
On his events this weekend
I do not think I have won a race this year at any meet. Usually, I have a really great meet going into Big 12 and I hope this year is not any different.
On whether Senior Day will be filled with emotions
I am not very emotional. I hope I don’t cry, that would be embarrassing. There have been a lot of great memories. You go from being an 18-year-old kid to a 22-year-old adult with these guys.
On what he wants from his last season
I want to be able to jump in the pool after NCAAs with my teammates to signify that we won the national championship. It will be a really tough road and it will take all of our guys in the locker room to accomplish that.
On what it will take to win this weekend
It will take relays and people stepping up in their dominant strokes. They [Arizona] have the second fastest butterflier in the country, the American record holder in the breaststrokes and great backstrokers. It will take a big effort from our guys to beat them.
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