SWIMMING & DIVING | Watkins First Hoya to NCAA Championships

Between the hours of two p.m. and 5:30 p.m., the Georgetown University swimming and diving workforce usually packs the 8-lane, 25-yard McCarthy Swimming Pool. Their 6-month season involves a detailed on the finish of February after the Big East swimming and diving championship. This yr, nonetheless, there may be nonetheless one Hoya within the pool nicely into the month of March.

Sophomore dash freestyle specialist Owen Watkins is an 8-time Big East gold medalist, this yr’s Big East most excellent male swimmer and an integral a part of the Hoya squad that lately captured a five-peat Big East Championship. At the top of this month, Watkins will add one other accolade to this record: He will develop into the primary athlete within the 77-year historical past of this system to characterize the Hoyas on the NCAA Championships, competing within the 50-yard freestyle on March 27. 

Watkins, who began swimming on the age of 6, mentioned he discovered his ardour for the game when he joined a brand new summer time pool. 

“When I was 8, I switched to a different summer swim pool. We had a new coach there, Coach Pat, he was the one who really got me into the sport,” Watkins informed The Hoya. “Swimming was fun, lots of cheers, and the meets were fun — and hanging out with friends, forming relationships there. I got better that summer, and he pushed me to start swimming winter swim.” 

“And then it was all from there,” Watkins added. “Eventually, I ended up here, some 12 years later. All it took was one fun summer.” 

Watkins mentioned he discovered his occasion — the 50 freestyle — via his elementary love for velocity. 

“I love how fast paced and just don’t think, just go swim as fast as you possibly can and there’s nothing else to it,” Watkins mentioned. “It’s the peak of competitive racing, I think, compared to any of those other events. It’s just the most adrenaline and the one I love getting to swim the most — definitely.” 

Watkins not solely loves competing within the 50 freestyle, however he excels within the occasion. Watkins entered the Big East championship with a private better of 19.44 seconds within the 50 freestyle, simply 1/a hundredth of a second off the NCAA championship qualifying commonplace of 19.43. On the second day of competitors, Watkins smashed the 19.43 second time mark — not simply as soon as, however on three separate events.

Watkins broke the barrier with a mark of 19.27 seconds within the 50 freestyle preliminaries, ending a full second sooner than his closest rivals. He obliterated the mark within the closing later, swimming 19.21 seconds to defend his gold and safe a spot on the NCAA championships. Watkins then accomplished the unthinkable, setting a private greatest for the third time that day, main off the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 19.17 seconds – his seeding time for NCAAs. 

Watkins, who mentioned the sense of group on the workforce drew him to Georgetown, additionally credit his teammates for getting him to the place he’s immediately. 

“As I went through their process, it was clear that throughout the time, talking to coaches, talking to swimmers, that they wanted me to come here,” Watkins mentioned. “It was less of just ‘you’ve got good times; we want to recruit you.’ It was more they wanted me as a person to actually come and swim at Georgetown.”

“The guys were super close, way closer than I had ever been with any of my swim teammates growing up,” Watkins added. “And that was something that I thought would be really cool and something that I wanted to have in college.”

Watkins mentioned he acquired much more than he anticipated — he discovered a household on the workforce.

“It’s fifty-some almost family members, especially the guys,” Watkins mentioned. “It’s 25 other like brothers you have that you spend most of your days with, training with, kind of doing everything with them together. It’s more than a group of friends. It’s a much stronger bond that I’ve developed, and it’s certainly become the most central part of my experience here.”

Watkins mentioned competing at NCAAs subsequent month is not going to solely replicate his efforts, however the hours his teammates have devoted to coaching as nicely. 

“Me competing there is so much more than my 50 free,” Watkins mentioned. “It’s all the guys that I train with every single day, the blood, sweat and tears that they put into training with me and me with them. For me, that swim is going to be a representation of a lot more than just the work I put in, but the work that every single guy put in to get us to that Big East championship and help me get to NCs.”

Watkins qualifying for the NCAA championship comes after a change to the qualification course of this season. To qualify for NCAAs, a swimmer should now publish a qualifying time and win their occasion of their convention championship. The new qualification system opens the door to swimmers from groups with much less funding and assets than these that are usually represented at NCAAs. 

Watkins mentioned he thinks the brand new change is sweet for the game, enhancing illustration. 

“I think it’s cool to be able to see some of that mid-major representation and not just look at the top 30 swimmers who are coming from all the Power 4 programs that have all this funding and resources at their disposal,” Watkins mentioned. “To be able to see the kids who are getting to essentially that level of performance without all those things, it will broaden the lens of that elite tier meet.”

For context, the McCarthy pool in Yates is lower than twice the scale of and fewer than half as deep — depth will increase velocity — because the amenities utilized by giant squads, who apply and compete in multi-million greenback, Olympic measurement natatoriums. 

Georgetown Swimming Head Coach John Carroll, who’s in his first yr main this system, mentioned he’s proud to have Watkins characterize the workforce on the quickest meet on this planet. 

“Having Owen represent at — this is the fastest meet in the world in a lot of respects, in terms of pure speed, seeing guys go the fastest that they possibly could go in the water, this is the fastest meet in the world — it’s a really cool feeling,” Carroll informed The Hoya. “I feel really proud of Owen and feel we can really capitalize on this, and the best is yet to come for him and for the team.”  

In reflecting on his Georgetown swimming profession, Watkins mentioned he needs to assist propel this system to new heights, giving again the help his teammates offered him. 

“As the next generation of kids come up to the team, being able to hopefully be a part of their training that can get them to a place like I’ve been able to get to with NCAAs would be super cool,” Watkins mentioned. 

“The individual times are one thing, but I think for me, it’s more so seeing where this team can go,” Watkins added. “I want my success to then be able to help lift everyone else up.”

Watkins, who’s at the moment coaching primarily alone as his teammates return from their post-season breaks, mentioned he feels assured the workforce’s success will solely develop from right here.

“I might be the first, but I certainly won’t be the last in terms of kids who are going to come through this program and see that type of success.”