Burlingame native Naomi Thomas wasted little time in making her mark on the UC San Diego swimming and diving program. In her first two seasons, the 5-7 junior has been a five-time All-American and reached individual NCAA championship finals three times, including a school-record performance (celebration pictured) while finishing fifth in last year's 100 butterfly. An international studies major, she has also represented Swimming & Diving on the Triton Athletes' Council for two years. As she and her teammates prepare to start the second half of their 2014-15 campaign and the run toward the “championship” season, Thomas took time to talk about the life of a college athlete in her sport, last year's national meet, and what she and her team hope to do in 2015.
Q: What's the best thing about being a collegiate swimmer?
THOMAS: The team atmosphere. It's such an amazing feeling knowing you have 60 other people always supporting you, whether it's in an NCAA final or just a hero swim in practice. I think club swimming fosters more of a selfish environment, where it's all about you, and getting personal-best times is the most important thing. College is a completely different story. Everything you do, you do for the team. I think being an anchor leg in an NCAA qualifying relay, or just squeezing into eighth place to swim again in finals, brings way more satisfaction than getting a best time ever could.
Q: Swimmers seem to be "in season" for most of the academic year. What do you, your teammates and coaches do to successfully navigate such a long training period? As a veteran, what kind of "tricks" have you learned to make that process easier?
THOMAS: It's always funny when people ask, "so when is your actual season?," because I can't really give them a straight answer! Coming in a month before classes start for preseason may not seem ideal to most people, but I think it's one of the most fun experiences we go through as a team, because that's when we become a lot closer and really start to find our team identity.
The first few meets in the fall (Blue-Gold, Alumni, Claremont, UCSB) really help in getting our team adjusted to how it feels to race again, and gives the newcomers an idea of what's expected out of them each time they get up on the blocks. I think once fall quarter ends, things really pick up, as January means meets almost every weekend until conference (championships), and then NCAAs just a few weeks after that.
I've learned that resting for meets is a rare occasion, so in order for that to come, you have to put in the work when it's needed. It may not be the most enjoyable aspect of swimming, but it's one of the most important. I've also learned that swimming is already unbelievably strenuous, both mentally and physically, so keeping things light and fun both at practice and at meets helps a lot with maintaining the stress.
Q: At UC San Diego, swimming is one of the few sports where the men's and women's teams train together. What are your thoughts on that, and do you see any benefits to that arrangement?
THOMAS: I think it's one of the main reasons why our team is so close and brings such a strong presence to meets. The men's team is just 30 brothers that I never had, but am so thankful for. One of the best experiences I've had as a member of the women's team so far, is when we have women-only dual meets, and our men's team still shows up to cheer and support us even though they don't have to swim. I think it shows a lot about their character as a whole, and I can't imagine this program without any of them.
What would my morning practices be like if I didn't hear Howie Chang yelling and causing a scene about something three lanes away? Or if I didn't have Max Halson to make the trek with from the pool to Price Center for breakfast each morning? And who would I be if I didn't have Sean (Malley) and Chandler (Pourvahidi) both making fun of me and making me laugh on a daily basis? I think they help keep us females grounded and more light-hearted about swimming, and diffuse a lot of the drama that's more common in programs with only a women's team.
Q: From your perspective, what's the relative importance of the mental and physical aspects of swimming? Does that relationship change once you hit the championship portion of the season?
THOMAS: I kind of think of swimming in stages now that I'm at the collegiate level. Preseason is a time to obviously put in work and get into shape for the fall, but it's also an opportunity to bond with your new teammates and experience more than just pool workouts, as we have beach workouts and ocean swims every afternoon.
It can get frustrating at times to get back into the groove of double workouts and class almost every day during fall quarter, but once our A3 (Performance) Invitational comes around in late November, the energy definitely shifts into more of a race-ready mindset, and conserving energy and getting up and swimming fast in practice become the team's main priorities.
We are actually heading into the second part of winter training (more commonly referred to as "hell week"), which is another very important stage of our team's development and success. The monster sets and four-hour practices may seem unnecessary at the time, but once January is over, we head very quickly into preparing and resting for conference and then NCAAs, so putting the work in now certainly pays off in the long run. I think it's important to know how to work hard and what it feels like to get up and race when your body is completely broken down, because once championship season does come around and we are finally resting, the team can go into these big meets with such confidence and can rely on all of their training and hard work.
Q: Last year, you finished fifth in the 100 butterfly at the NCAA Division II Championships, setting a school record of 54.69 in the process. Walk us through the big race, from "ready room," to the blocks and race strategy.
THOMAS: Oh man, my heart rate goes up just THINKING about the ready room! It's such an intimidating place. You just sit there for up to 10 minutes with all your competitors! You can ask any of the coaches about the nerves I have at the conference championships compared to those before all my races at NCAAs. Even though it's just another swim meet, I'm still working on channeling my nerves into more of an excited state than a fearful one. I seem to always swim my best races when I'm really comfortable and I just remember everything going as planned before that particular race.
I warmed up enough, I got out and mentally prepped in just the right amount of time in the ready room (also helped that my teammate Jaclyn Amog was in there with me!), and I walked to my blocks with such confidence because even though it was a championship final at NCAAs, I remember thinking that it was just another 100-yard butterfly, and I had my teammates, coaches and my parents there to support me, no matter what the outcome might have been.
Q: What were your immediate thoughts when you hit the wall and checked the scoreboard after that race?
THOMAS: Relief! Relieved that I had finally gone under that 55-second mark that I had been stuck at since my sophomore year of high school. Relief that I had accomplished one of my long-term college swim goals, to get my name on the school record board, and still with two more years left to go! And above all, relief that I had swam faster at night (which is rare for me, but I'm getting better at it), scored points for my team, and was a contributing factor to our overall women's team standing.
A swimmer's energy plays such an important role, especially at a meet as big as NCAAs, so seeing my teammates swim lights out and watching my coaches get more and more pumped up with each great swim really helped me get excited as well, and pushed me to perform to the best of my ability.
Q: Overall, at the end of last year's national meet, were you satisfied? How has it affected your outlook, expectations and training for 2014-15?
THOMAS: You are your own biggest critic, so even though everyone told me I had a great meet, there were still some things that I wish had gone a little differently. My club coach used to tell us all the time after big meets that "swimming is an unforgiving sport," meaning that it doesn't matter what you did yesterday or even last year. Each race and each practice is an opportunity to learn and grow from, and to get better.
I think now being an upperclassman means setting a good example both in and out of the pool for my teammates, and so far this season, I feel like my training is going really well and I have all the confidence in the world about this program doing big things as we head into more race-heavy months.
Q: Aside from the competition, what will you remember most about last year's trip to Geneva, Ohio, for the NCAA meet?
THOMAS: That trip was definitely one for the books! Even though I was a little spoiled as a freshman in that my first NCAA experience was also a (Division II Festival) year, I still had such a great experience in Geneva. I'll mostly remember the hotel, and how "quaint" Americas Best Value Inn was. I'll remember Coach (Daniel) Perdew refusing to drive any faster than 30 (miles per hour) on the freeway during the biggest snowstorm any of us had ever seen, as well as having to scrape ice off of the INSIDE of our car windows. I'll also remember Corrie (Falcon) running around on deck still taking splits and jumping up and down during both Nick (Korth) and Anji's (Shakya) NCAA championship swims, despite being unbelievably pregnant. I'll also remember the senior speeches on the last night that made me cry like a baby, but also made me realize just how lucky I am to know people as amazing and impressionable as the ones that are a part of our Triton swim and dive family.
Q: Tell us a little about the different events you're swimming this year. What's the most difficult and rewarding about each?
THOMAS: My event schedule this year is looking a lot similar to the years past, with the 100 and 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley and the 400 medley relay lined up. However, I'm really trying to prove to (Coach) Perdew that I can swim the 100 freestyle in a decent enough time to hopefully then replace the 200 IM? I don't really know, but a girl can dream! I think the 100 fly is a great race for me because it's right in the middle, where I can't really get my rate up in time for a 50 fly, but it also isn't as rhythmic and doesn't require as much race strategy as the 200 fly.
The main thing I need to work on in the upcoming months is my turn speed and getting off the walls faster, because that last turn in my 200 fly is probably more painful to watch than it is for me to execute. I talk about disliking the 200 IM and it's really not a terrible race. I've just always had a mental block about it. Even as a little 10-year-old at my biggest meet, I remember always getting more nervous for that race than any other one. Maybe it's because you have to do every single stroke, and two out of the four of those (backstroke and breaststroke) don't seem to come as naturally to me as the others.
Q: How did you end up at UC San Diego?
THOMAS: I think a big part of it was due to my older sister, Megan, who also swam for UCSD, and the stories and experiences she shared with me. I would visit her while still in high school, and I knew after my official visit on my recruiting trip, that this was the right fit for me as well. I also think the location is great for me. I knew I wanted to stay in California, but not anywhere too close to my hometown, because I didn't want the option to go home every weekend if it was easily accessible.
I think another huge selling point was the fact that the men's and women's teams train together, which has shaped me into both a better athlete and person because of how the guys help push me at practice and keep me in line when I start to stress about things out of my control.
Q: When you arrived in La Jolla, was there anyone on the team that you looked up to? Anyone who mentored you and helped you get over the hurdles as a freshman?
THOMAS: There has, still to this day, never been a teammate to me more life-changing than Beth Dong. I consider her one of the strongest and most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and even though I only had one year with her, she made such a lasting impression on me. Right from the beginning, she made me feel comfortable about coming to her with whatever problems I had, even though I'm sure she had her own obstacles she was trying to deal with.
I'll never forget the last finals session at the Arena Invitational my freshman year. I was warming up for the 400 free relay that I was on with Beth after she had just swum the mile, and the 200 fly and 200 back for the second time in finals. If it were anyone else, they would be miserable and probably complaining about how tired they were, but not Beth. She was laughing and cracking jokes and in that moment, I realized that it's JUST swimming, and to never take it too seriously, because your body gives in way sooner than your mind does.
Q: What kind of relationship does a successful swimmer have with her coaches? What are a couple of words that best describe UCSD head coaches Corrie Falcon and Daniel Perdew?
THOMAS: As a freshman, I think I was a little intimidated by the coaches, just because it was a new environment and what to expect takes some figuring out from both ends. But I soon found out the coaches only want what is best for us, and in order to achieve that, communication is such an important part of the relationship. I can go to any member of the coaching staff and talk to them about either what's going well or what isn't, and feel like they can do the same with me. I think Corrie, Daniel and (assistant coach) Marko (Djordjevic) balance each other out really well because they are such a mixed group of personalities, but all give 110 percent in making us better and devoting so much of their time and effort to this program.
Corrie is level-headed, understanding and strong. Daniel is motivating, responsible, and such a good role model for our team, especially the male sprinters in pursuit of taking down his name from that record board!
Q: Outside of aquatics, what other sport at UCSD do you think you could excel at? Which would be the most difficult for you?
THOMAS: Growing up, I played a fair bit of soccer in addition to swimming. I think I inherited my dad's soccer genes because he grew up on a farm in Wales, (and it) is the only thing to really do in a country where there are more cows than people. I love everything about the game and was pretty good at it, but had to make a choice about which sport I was going to seriously pursue when both began to get pretty competitive. That's about the extent of my land sport abilities, though.
I gave gymnastics a fair chance when I was really young, but couldn't even execute a somersault, and spent more time hiding in the foam pit than listening to my instructors. I also think swimmers, in general, tend to struggle with any kind of running or track-related activities, as demonstrated by our sad attempts at sprinting in the beginning of the season. I'm most comfortable in bodies of water, though, so I'm glad things worked out the way they did.
Q: You've listed traveling among the things you enjoy. What's been the favorite spot you've visited? Where would you most like to go?
THOMAS: I was fortunate enough to travel a good amount in high school because I participated in some of the stops on the swimming World Cup circuit. Junior year, I spent a week in Berlin and a week in Moscow, and then senior year, I competed in the stop in Singapore. Besides Berlin, I probably wouldn't have ever had the opportunity to visit those places (without swimming), so it was such an amazing opportunity to experience all the different cultures, both in and out of the pool. I think Berlin has been the best place I've been to so far, though, because of just how cool both the city and the people in it were. We were able to walk along the Berlin Wall and do a fair bit of other sight-seeing in between swim sessions, but it wasn't nearly enough for me and I'd love to go back again.
Croatia and Greece are still at the top of my travel list. I think both places are beautiful, and as much as I love frolicking about in the Pacific Ocean, I would love to swim around in the Mediterranean sometime soon.
Q: What's an "under-the-radar" spot you like to go in San Diego?
THOMAS: I'm always looking to find cool new spots that aren't always inhabited by UCSD students, but haven't had great luck with such places in La Jolla. Since I live in Del Mar this year, I've been studying a good amount in Cafe Cantata, this super-trendy cafe with delicious coffee and a really friendly environment.
Q: What's the most unusual Christmas gift you received this year? Ever?
THOMAS: When I was about 10, Santa delivered a karaoke machine to our house. Seeing as though neither my sister nor I are very musically inclined, it was quickly sent back to the toy store after one use. I also went through a weird “groovy phase” in my childhood where I got a tie-dye beanbag chair and a lava lamp for Christmas.
Q: This year's NCAA Division II Championships are in Indianapolis. What's the goal?
THOMAS: The goal is to have yet another nationals where our team swims fast, has fun, and leaves it all in the pool without any regrets. I think both the men's and women's teams can place higher than we did last year, and I think just because Nick Korth and Anji Shakya aren't here anymore, it doesn't mean we won't have any other individual NCAA titles to bring back home with us to San Diego. I know there are so many of my teammates capable of being national champions, and I can't wait to see where the season takes us!
Previous Triton Q&A Features
Cameron Ravanbach (Men's Water Polo) November 21, 2014
Eric Olen (Men's Basketball) November 17, 2014
Mitchell Shulman (Men's Fencing) November 13, 2014
Paul Li (Men's Swimming & Diving) November 1, 2014
Paige Hughes (Women's Cross Country) October 20, 2014
Danielle Dahle (Women's Volleyball) October 14, 2014
Tareq Alwafai (Men's Cross Country) September 25, 2014
David Higginson (Men's Water Polo) September 18, 2014
Matthew McClure (Men's Soccer) September 10, 2014
Caitlin Brenton (Women's Volleyball) September 3, 2014
Michelle Yasutake (Women's Soccer) August 25, 2014
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