Abby Crawford, a senior at Pepperdine, goes into detail about her excitement for the future of Pepperdine's swim team. She tells us her hopes for her team and her last year as a Wave ahead of this Friday and Saturday's Malibu Invitational at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool:
Q: How did you feel about your first meet against San Diego State? For the team and for yourself?
A: It went very well actually; we have a lot of really fast freshmen this year. Our relays did really well along with some individual events. Overall, I would say we have definitely improved as a team. As for me, I'd say I did pretty good, posted some good times. But with it being the first meet of the season it's hard to gauge exactly how everyone is.
Q: What are your more main events?
A: I have a wide range through a lot of events but this year I am going to do the 100 IM and continue doing the 100 free and backstroke.
Q: The Malibu Invitational is coming up. Are you exciting to compete in that?
A: Yeah, that is definitely a fun meet because we all have to swim a distance event,mid-distance event and a sprint event. A lot of teams come so there's a lot of competition and it's also fun because the alumni from previous years will come and swim, which is always fun to see.
Q: Who is your biggest rival/most competitive meets against?
A: LMU is probably our biggest rival since we are always competing against them and we have a very similar level of competition.
Q: What has being at Pepperdine and swimming for four years meant to you?
A: It has meant everything to me. It has changed my whole life. It was weird moving across the country to this new place my freshman year but quickly Pepperdine became like another home to me, especially with my team, since it felt like I had an immediate family. I have grown so much these past four years with my teammates and it has been an amazing time.
Q: How do you think the increased size of the recruiting class is helping the swim program?
A: We are definitely expanding, which is really great for the program. We have around 40 girls this year. It's really good because it gets our program out there since after we almost lost our program a few years ago we have been rebuilding. With the increased size it has helped our program grow and become a lot faster.
Q: How do you see the freshmen this year fitting in?
A: I think the team dynamic has helped this class fit in really well and more easily also since all of them are very sociable and great teammates.
Q: What are your team goals?Personal goals?
A: For the team I think everyone would say that we want to place top three at conference, along with growing as a team and becoming closer as a unit. While for personal goals, I just want to swim faster, it doesn't matter what event. As long as I drop time I will be happy and proud of myself.
Q: What does being a Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete mean to you?
A: I have tried really hard to focus on my school before swim, they kind of walk hand in hand since swim gives me the discipline to get my homework done because of morning practices. Even as a major in sports medicine it has been a good balance between sports and school.
Q: What is your favorite swim team memory?
A: There are honestly too many to pick just one. So I would have to say all the friends I have made,especially the girls on my team. We have grown so much together, a lot due to the fact that we want to enjoy ourselves and have fun. We swim a ton but we also make sure no one is getting burned out with it and overall make sure everyone is having fun.
