By Bob Schaller//Correspondent
She swam for the University of Texas before deciding to switch to Longhorn Aquatics but maintain her studies at UT, and now, 2008 Olympic alum Kathleen Hersey is ready for a run at the 2012 Olympic Trials. She’s also coping with personal loss, as she explains in this week’s 20 Question Tuesday.
1. What’s it like in the run-up to Trials right now?
Kathleen: It’s a very unique feeling, a unique training atmosphere, and a unique motivation. There are pressures from making the team last time, but pressure to make it this time. But it’s so exciting watching people come out of the woodwork and make the team. As I have said 18 times (laugh) now, it’s a special time of year. It’s nerve-racking and pressure filled, but it’s the part we love.
2. What did you learn from Beijing?
Kathleen: Actually, it’s more like, “What didn’t I learn from that?” I learned how to be successful, and how to fail. And because I learned how to fail, I learned how not to fail again.
3. So is it harder or easier this time around?
Kathleen: Harder, but for different reasons. In 2008, making the team was always part of the plan. it was the next step. People looking in saw that I was getting better and better, but probably had no idea where I’d be when Trials came around. I didn’t feel the pressure, because if I didn’t make the team, I was still going off to college and going to have that new experience if I were unable to represent my country. There was less pressure because there was less expectation. This time there are more expectations. The battle for me is keeping everything in perspective. Obviously I want to represent my country and work hard. Other things are important to me, too.
4. Losing your mother recently – who was an amazing woman – how are you coping with that?
Kathleen: I am really close with Teresa Crippen. She sent me a little thing, “God has three responses to your prayers: Yes, no, and not yet I have something better in mind.” Grief is such a unique human experience. I feel so blessed to have these people in my life who have protected me and carried me though this experience. Sometimes, it’s just me, mom and God, and it’s great to see truth in her salvation. But some days, I just (pause) miss my Mom. It’s definitely a balance. Having (coaches) Eddie (Reese) and Kris (Kubik), and the Texas men’s team, and some of the girls too, really picks me up when I fall. Time does make it less impactful. It’s still so raw. It’s been over a month, and it’s one of those things that will never go away, but you get used to a “new normal” every day. My peace is in His truth.
5. Your mom saw some pretty awesome swimming accomplishments by you, didn’t she?
Kathleen: Definitely. My dad and I talk a lot about that. She was there at Duel in the Pool for the first American record I had. I think about my Mom (in Beijing) almost falling over the balcony with this huge American flag. (Pause) I can see it right now, and it’s a great memory.
6. You mentioned earlier the Beijing Games were a success and failure. How was it a failure?
Kathleen: I made the semifinals with a best time, and made finals with the best time, but in the finals I just freaked out and didn’t medal. Nothing went right that morning. The bus was late. I didn’t eat what I should have, and I got sick. I didn’t have the right suit. I ended up eighth (last) in the final and added a second and a half to my time. I had been geared up for a medal. That was the next step in my “big plan.” I didn’t accomplish that, and it has shaken me since then. I am ready to go back and prove myself.
7. You have learned a lot from that?
Kathleen: Since then I have had a lot of advice given to me and learned a lot from experience. You control the things you can control and let everything else go, otherwise you’ll be a big ball of stress. This will not change who I am, and keep in mind that sports builds character. So I am giving it all I can – my best.
8. You have every right to privacy, but it sounds like it was a tough decision to end your college career early, but it seems to have worked out well, hasn’t it?
Kathleen: It has worked out. You know I wish I could have finished my college career with my class, because we had such a unique bond from growing up in such different ways. We all had a unique story, which brought a unique chemistry. I have a lot of good memories, and some regret that I couldn’t finish what I had started, but it was the right choice and I moved on. Life goes on, and you have to move onto what’s next.
9. Your father, never being slowed down in his wheelchair, is just such an amazing man, isn’t he?
Kathleen: I found this email I had sent way back in high school, with an essay I had written about how my dad is my hero. Even now reading it, the descriptions are so accurate, and I’m so proud of how he puts morality and ethics first in whatever he does. Being in a wheelchair never affected what he was going to accomplish or how he was going to accomplish it. He’s definitely my hero. He just lost the love of his life and he still cares more about how I am doing than himself. He’s the most giving and loving person. He has an inner strength that I admire.
10. What do you do for fun in Austin?
Kathleen: My favorite thing to do is go with Brendan Hansen and (his wife) Martha, and Hayes Johnson to the dog park. I have a little dog, but (the Hansens) have real (laughs) dogs! Austin is blessed with such great weather.
11. How do you feel different physically from 2008?
Kathleen: I feel stronger. My body has changed so much in so many different ways from 2008. I was just a little girl coming out of high school. Looking at pictures, I wonder, “How did I go fast without any definition in my muscles?” I feel stronger. We’re working on explosive strength. That’s building up. I feel more prepared to swim fast.
12. Are you focusing on more than one event?
Kathleen: Definitely. I’m not just a 200 butteflier. I feel like I am more than that. At Trials, the 100 fly is the first day, and I will definitely do the 200 fly, and since the 200 back is the last two days I will probably swim that. Other than that, I do not know. Eddie wants me to do a freestyle, but we’ll see. There will definitely be some options. I like to race every day. If I don’t have something to do, I get nervous or it gets in my head. The busier I am, the better.
13. How much has dryland evolved for you?
Kathleen: It’s definitely a big part of my training and fitness level. I get “mashed,” which is something that helps me a lot. That has relieved a lot of the constant tension I have in my hips. I’ve picked up a lot from Pilates. There’s so much energy your body has that you don’t use, so adjusting a hip position or building your inner core really can help.
14. What’s mashing, and where did you get that?
Kathleen: From Dara Torres, who is just awesome. The (physical therapist or masseuse) literally stands on my legs and that gets the lactic acid out of them.
15. What’s your relationship with Dara like?
Kathleen: I don’t see her a lot. But when we are on trips together I talked to her. I just respect her so much. When I my mom passed away she sent me a text, and so did Amanda Beard. That meant so much. Actually almost everyone from the national team did that, and you don’t forget that at all.
16. So will you be swimming into your 40s like Dara or 30s like Amanda?
Kathleen: No, not even (laughs) a little bit. I don’t want to. I hope I am as fit as Dara, and as well-balanced as she and Amanda, but swimming for another decade or two won’t happen. I hope I am as driven as Dara is. She has seen what else she’s good at and what else is out there. Her motivation is something really incredible.
17. Throw in Lochte, Phelps, Soni and Natalie Coughlin, and you’ve been part of a pretty special era of USA Swimming, haven’t you?
Kathleen: I have been, and it is kind of mind-blowing to think that I’ve been part of one of the greatest Olympics, where Michael won eight gold medals and Natalie won six (total medals). It’s weird that this has become part of my identity because all of these people are ones I look up to so much. It’s overwhelming to see the kind of people I have been around.
18. What will you do with your college studies in PR and business?
Kathleen: I’ve learned that the more involved and more proactive I am with things, the more I excel. I love my major, and I love learning. I love the business, but I also like understanding how people’s minds work, so I will probably do something in graduate school where I studying human behavior, and develop a unique skill set. Knowing people, like Natalie, who are so good at what they do, has helped me focus in on that as something I’d like to learn more about and study in the future.
19. Having had that experience in Beijing, wouldn’t that be better prep for being in London? How exciting would it be to be at the Games being held in a country like England?
Kathleen: I think logistically, these Olympics would be easier to navigate. Emily Silver, (2008 Olympian and) the athlete rep at USA swimming, has sent us pictures of London and the venue. With the experience I had in ’08, I need to have that memorable Olympic experience in 2012. There’s a lot of work between now and then, but I think anyone would admit that it is hard not to think about the Olympics.
20. Do you see a changing of the guard on the women’s side or are there a lot of favorites?
Kathleen: Absolutely. There are fast swimmers who have come up and will be on the team. And there are favorites in every event. But you have to remember, this is why we swim the race, because anyone can pop up and claim a spot. I’m thankful I have had the last few years to focus on things I can do better this time around, and I hoping they pay off, and I can shine at Olympic Trials.