BreaksProfiles
in Excellence: The 2013 14 College Swimming & Diving Honors
Break Out Athlete:Emma Reaney Reaney continued from page 12 What was her training like this past season? Did anything change from previous seasons? “We certainly made changes from last year to this year. A specific change we made in the fall was doing a breaststroke set on Mondays after a day out the water. She has a better stroke with a day of rest. We also tried to avoid slow breaststroke. We did a lot of pace. After the 2012-2013 season, another big change came in the weight room. Emma was lifting 4 days a week with single water workouts. She killed it in the weight room. She got stronger, a lot stronger and we dialed in on the details like pullouts and stroke counts.” I have been told and have heard from several coaches over the years, including my coaching hero Dick Shoulberg, “doing the same thing will yield the same results. You have to make the necessary changes to keep progressing.” Any half decent coach can tell you that but putting it into action is what counts and that is something that Coach Barnes and Emma did months before the start of the 2013-2014 season. But that is merely one piece of the puzzle. What kind of athlete is Emma like in practice?
“She has always been a very hard worker. She’s consistent. I wouldn’t say that she was significantly better last year then this year in the water, however, her belief changed. Emma asked me if I (Coach Barnes) really believed that she had National Team potential, and I said absolutely. Her biggest strength is her belief system. She wins on the deck before she enters the water with that belief system and her work ethic, in and out of the water. She has her act together.” Two more pieces of the puzzle come to light, consistency and the belief system. Emma really seems to have a recipe for elite level success. Of course this is not anything new but it is always quite fascinating when it all comes together. I also had the pleasure of asking Emma a few questions that shed some more light on her incredibly successful season. Now that you are the 200 breaststroke American record holder and in the company of Larson, Leverenz, and Soni, do you feel any pressure internally or externally to perform better then last year? “I feel a little bit of pressure internally. I am somewhat of a perfectionist and I’m very competitive. So now that it’s mine it will be hard for
Page 18
me to let it go! I’ve never been one to listen to external pressure and my parents and teammates are so supportive no matter what, I’ve never really had to worry about it. It’s still taking some time for me to realize that I’m up there on that list of great athletes. Now I have to prove myself long course.” What do you think contributed to your successful 2013-2014 season? “I think I just kept pushing myself in the pool and the weight room. And like Coach Barnes always tells us, I was constantly updating my idea of what “good” was.” I don’t know what is going to make every athlete successful. It is a different combination of goals, methods, and coaching from athlete to athlete and sport to sport. What I do know is this: Emma Reaney has all the right things going for her at just the right time. Great coaching, goals that are related to the path not the end result, the right amount of change, consistency, the belief, and a support system from family and teammates. Time will certainly tell if Emma can continue on with her concoction of success and I am excited and hopeful for the future of breaststroke in America and Emma is certainly deserving of Breakout Athlete of they Year.