Behind the Blocks: NCAAs or bust tracks the training and development of former All Met swimmers working towards the goal of making the NCAA Division I championship meet in March during the 2013-2014 season. Each week the swimmers will post a personal blog about training with their respective school’s swim program and the daily challenges of life as a student-athlete at the D1 level. Check back every Tuesday for new blog posts, and join us throughout the season for a behind-the-scenes look at some of the country’s elite collegiate swimmers and swim programs.
Eva Greene is a junior at the University of California-Berkeley. She started her swimming career with the Tuckahoe Tigers in the NVSL and continued with McLean High School where she was MVP from 2008-2011. She was named PVS Swimmer of the Year in 2009 as a member of Machine Aquatics.
My name is Eva Greene, and I am a junior studying Political Economy and French at UC-Berkeley and a member of the women’s swim team. I am originally from Falls Church, Virginia where I swam for Machine Aquatics and the Tuckahoe Tigers. I am honored and excited to take you through what it’s like to go through a season as a Golden Bear!
Eva Greene’s University of California athlete page
Early in a college season, goal setting and assessing success can be a tough task. In the midst of heavy October training, springtime taper is like a tiny bright light at the end of a very long, painful, hypoxic set-ridden tunnel. We’re constantly going; swimming, spinning, studying, lifting, traveling, and then swimming and studying some more. It all happens so quick it can make your head spin. October comes and there’s no stopping it. It’s in this time, however, that we can either simply trudge through or decide to be resilient and make the most of it.
This past weekend we matched up for a dual meet against Florida for the first time in history. Nerves were buzzing, as we knew we were up against a very talented and respected team. Before the meet began, our coach Teri McKeever asked us a simple, yet powerful question: “What would success look like to you today?”
The knee-jerk reaction would be to go best times and win the meet, but the responses from my teammates were quite different. We came up with things like, “a success would be to compete – leave it all in the pool,” “have fun with and feed off of the energy of the crowd,” and “give it my all because I know my teammates are doing the same thing.”
This activity reminded us to keep everything in perspective. Having such a powerhouse of a team like Florida in our pool provided incredible racing opportunities that we wanted to take advantage of despite how we may have felt both physically and mentally. It’s not every day you get to watch IM superstars like Liz Pelton, Elizabeth Beisel, and Celina Li battle it out two days in a row.
The goals of this meet were to embrace these situations and act like the little girls we were when we first started swimming – the ones who would fall sleep in their suits the night before a race day out of pure excitement. With that in mind, this meet was a success. Results aside, we had fun and raced with the passion and energy that reminded us all why we started this sport in the first place.
Florida at California results: Golden Bears 238, Gators 210
Greene: 50 freestyle (25.01); 100 backstroke (1:00.34); 200 backstroke (2:05.80)
I already know this season is going to be special. This is my third year as a Golden Bear, and I see relationships and bonds forming like never before. We have a strong freshman class, but more importantly, we have a great balance of talent and experience throughout the whole team. Talent can win races, but experience is what drives a team through the ups and downs of a season.
Looking forward into the year many things come to my mind, but it’s important to stay grounded in the moment. Just as success looks different now than in March, it will look different a week, three weeks, even three months from now. Constantly changing perspective turns that long, dark and daunting tunnel into a journey worth trekking. Our goals are centered on constantly moving toward NCAAs, but only one step at a time.
For now, my thoughts are focused on making the most of each individual workout this week up until Friday. This weekend is every Bear’s dream come true, the thing that gets us through October: Free Fall Weekend. A weekend free from swimming intended for rest, relaxation, and recovery. I’m heading to Lake Tahoe for three days of no – like, not even touching a pool kind of no – swimming. Everyone needs a break every once in a while! Until next time, GO BEARS!
Click here to see more athlete blog posts from Behind the Blocks
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