Hello, hi, hi, I'm Ansley. Nice to meet you. I'm a sophomore journalism major, and then I report for the Texan and my beat this year is swimming and diving for women. So Paul, I be talking a lot more than this one time. Do you know if Ashley's coming to or is just you decide? I have no idea. Okay, no worries. Sometimes they require them to sit in, but it's not, it's good. I guess we can just start kind of beginning prior. Basically, I'm doing a story on your transition from Olympics, that's back to the NCAA, and kind of that whole process and heading back into the college season. So we can start, I guess, before everything happened, and just want to talk about, like, what's your summer looks like prior to the games, and kind of how you balanced that training, and just your summer in general, yeah,
um, so I guess my summer is unique in that, like most college students, go home for the summer, but we kind of have to stay so I was living in an Airbnb off campus with two of my teammates, you know, having fun doing like laundry in the house and like cooking in the kitchen, because I lived in the dorms last year, so didn't really Get to do any of that, just a lot of like pretending to be an adult, I guess, in between going to practice, and that's kind of just what I did. And then I went home for a little bit before Olympic trials, just to see my family and kind of chill a little bit more. But that's basically what it was. And then when you came back, was it kind of just go, go, go, until your flight? Well, I went straight from home to trials, so I didn't come back in between. But,
okay, amazing. And then I guess you can start saying here is, like, what were, what were your emotions, kind of, on that flight to Paris, like, knowing you about to go to this, like crazy dream kind of scene for the sport, and what were you feeling heading into that meet?
Yeah, I mean, I think I was just more excited for Paris. I think what a lot of people who aren't maybe within the sport of swimming don't understand is that trials for us is a lot more stressful and a lot more like, concerning, I guess, than the actual Olympics, because we're so good at swimming in the US that once you make the team, like, you've kind of already made it, and then whatever you go on to do at the Olympics is just an add on. So I was just, like, excited to be there and excited to, like, finally get the chance to compete. Yeah. Um, so
what did it feel like when you first like, took those first steps into the arena for the first time, whether it was for practice or for your first like, your me itself,
um, it was definitely like, I don't know. It was kind of the real is a word that gets overused, but for real, um, and it was just super exciting to be in there. Honestly, it it felt kind of comforting, because we had our Briles in a football stadium here, and swimming in Paris was in an arena which is a little bit of a smaller venue. So it kind of felt like me and the rest of the team, like we knew how to handle a crowd of this size, and we were just really ready to have their support and to get up
and race. Yeah, cool. And on your team, there's a few other Longhorns as well. There's also so many people you probably looked up to growing up and trained alongside with. What was it like, kind of having that new team and like working together for those medals?
Yeah? I mean, it's always exciting. Usually, we kind of know each other a little bit just from seeing each other around, but spending the like weeks leading up to it together is kind of the first time everyone's like, all in one place. And it's just really fun to kind of make new relationships and form new bonds with people who you never really expected to spend a lot of time with. And I think then working together to get the medals. Like, by then, everyone's pretty bonded, and we're ready to help support each other in whatever way we need.
Yeah. And obviously, swimming is mostly an individual sport putting on certain races, but you competed in that four by two. What was it like, kind of being on a team, like, full of studs in the first place, and like knowing you were competing for like, a larger kind of goal? Yeah. I
mean, I think realize they're a lot more fun. You get to be in the ready room with, like, other people on your team, so it's kind of not as stressful, because you have other people there to kind of, like, bounce off of, and then once you're out there, it's, I don't know, it's kind of more nerve wracking and less nerve wracking at the same time, because you're a little bit worried because, like, other people's hopes and dreams ride on what you're doing, but at the same time, you have a lot of help in what you're doing. Like, I'm only a quarter of the relay, so I know that it doesn't all depend on me, and that also makes it a little less stressful at the same time,
yeah, in that group, was there any like, message y'all spoke to there before, kind of heading into it, or was there like a repeating message you took into the Olympics that kind of like, kept you, like, in your place, and kept you kind of centered throughout the whole just craziness
of it all. I think on the relay, we just kind of set out to the best we could. We knew we were racing like the world record holders, like the Austrians, were supposed to beat us by like, an absurd amount of time going in. So we just kind of knew that we were going to go out there and do our best, and we did a lot better than we were supposed to. But I think for myself, I kind of focused on remembering that, like, there's no reason that I can't be the person who really shows up, like at swim meets. There's always sort of one person who, like, really pops off and will drop a ton of time and will have a great swim. And I think a lot of the times, it's easy to be like, what if that's my competitor, but for me, I tried to focus on like, what if that's me? Yeah,
yeah, that's cool.
I guess my next question, it's the last one regarding the whole Olympics, is, what was your favorite memory just from traveling in the first place, or could it be something as well?
So when we we did a training camp in Raleigh, and then we flew to a training camp in Croatia. That first morning we got to Croatia, it was like, early in the morning. We had done like an overnight flight, like how you did it when you get to Europe. And so we weren't, no one was allowed to go to sleep because it was eight in the morning. We were supposed to be, like, adjusting to the time zone, and our hotel was on the beach, so everyone kind of just like, threw their stuff in their rooms and went down to the beach and just kind of sat there. And that was super fun, because on one hand, you're just like, sitting chilling with a bunch of friends at the beach, and then you're like, This is the entire US Olympics, but it was just a great, like, informal, chill moment, yeah,
yeah. I cannot imagine Croatia's gorgeous as well. So it's probably like amazing to visit heading into kind of the season. How does the Olympic stage differ to you than compared to, like, the NSA delay or your like, high school experience at the club stage?
I think definitely for college, it's more like, for the team like, as much as for the Olympics you're competing for team USA. So much of it is still like, how like, what can you go? What medals can you get? And same with club swimming, I think it's very individualized. But once you show up to like, the NCAA, like, it doesn't really matter what I personally do for me, it's what I can do for the team and how I can help the team. And I think that sort of makes it easier to step up, because, in a way, like, if someone tells you that they need you to do this for the team, like you can't just be like, no, yeah. And it just, it's a lot more fun to raise for something that's, like, bigger than yourself.
Yeah, absolutely. I guess you're a sophomore, right this year. Okay, so not being a freshman anymore. Are you finding yourself like, in, like, the preseason era, you don't start obviously, for a few weeks. Do you find yourself kind of becoming more of like a leadership presence on the team, or is it kind of just like a holistic
group? Um, I guess, like, a little bit, um, my roommate is a freshman, so, yeah, definitely, in that sense, I'm closer to the freshman class. And so, like, they asked me a question. They're not, like, afraid of me, like, I was definitely afraid of my sophomores. They're not full of them. Like, yeah, it's a little scary, yeah. Um, and I think that a little bit, but I also think, like, everyone is kind of a leader, depending on, like, what group you're in at practice. Like, anyone can be a leader. Yeah, cool. Um,
I guess this is, like, a really broad question, but what did this summer teach you about yourself as a swimmer and yourself as, like, a professional athlete? In a sense,
I think it kind of taught me that, like, this is gonna sound so pessimistic, but like, sometimes things can go right. Like, I'm the kind of person who goes into every scenario expecting it to go the worst it can possibly. Yeah. And I think this summer having things go the way that I like, wanted them to kind of show that, like, all the work that I've put in isn't for nothing, like I know that it's not for nothing, but it still sometimes feels like it is like, yeah, just the grind, day in, day out. And I think that's really, I don't know gonna, like, push me forward, because now I know that, like, when I work for something, I can reach that goal. It's not just some sort of, like, mythical, yeah, like, well, maybe, but, yeah, good
things happen. That's real. I when I played sports, it was like, Okay, we're gonna lose like, but if like, so it's the same way, um, I guess looking forward to, I guess you start in a few weeks now. What are you looking forward to with this? Like, obviously a freshman class coming up behind you in the upper class as well. Like, we look forward to in the water and kind of out of the water as a team,
yeah. I mean, in the water. I'm definitely just looking forward to, like, our first meets. I can't wait to see how we, like all mesh together as a team in like a competition environment. Yeah. And then the freshmen always like add so much, and I'm excited to see what they bring. And then outside the water, I think just like getting closer with all of my teammates, I think as a freshman, it's kind of scary to like, bond with anyone other than my fellow freshmen, because they seem like they know so much more about everything. But now that I've kind of gotten over that, I'm excited to get closer with, like, the upperclassmen as well.
Yeah, absolutely. Is there a certain meet you're looking forward to heading into the season?
Um, I think, I mean, a lot of our meets are home this season, and I know that, like Mitch and Carol do a lot to make sure that those are like really hype Yeah. So I think our Meet against Indiana is supposed to be like a really hype meet, and then our quad meet in January with Virginia, ASU and NC State. I think that when the like staff puts in the work to make dual meets fun, they can be so much more fun than, like, the bigger meats of the season, even if you're not necessarily going as fast.
Yeah, cool. That was all my questions I wrote down. But is there anything else you want to add about your experience in the summer, or just kind of your thoughts on this next year of your season.
Um, I think just the like, not that the Olympics are something to like, get out of the way, yeah, not that they're like, out of the way. I think last year I was, like, really focused on that, and just it didn't let me, like, enjoy the college season as much, because I was so focused on, like, what if I'm not doing this right for, like, the Olympics, like, what if I don't make the Olympics? Like, blah, blah, and now that that's like, over, I think I can focus a lot more on the college season and enjoying getting to spend time with my team. Yeah,
cool. All right. Well, thank you so much for meeting with me and spend some time, and we'll talk later in the season more and keep going. So, yeah, nice to meet you. Great.