Special thanks to Irvine NovAquatics for allowing us to use their coaches’ office for this interview to get out of the … rain! … at the end of Finals on Saturday night.
SwimSwam’s Anne Lepesant caught up with Indie Swimming’s Michael Andrew and his coach (and father) Peter Andrew just after the former’s junior national title in the 100 back.
The Andrews discussed what they’ve learned from this experience on the national stage and how they will carry it into Nationals next week. They also talk about how Michael Andrew is evolving as a swimmer and what events he may train for in the future.
At the time of the interview, Andrew had swum:
200 fly (prelims – 2:03.54 for 32nd place)
100 breast (prelims – 1:04.03 for 15th; finals 1:03.49 for 10th)
200 back (prelims – 2:04.23 for 19th; scratched finals)
100 free (prelims – 52.14 for 46th)
100 fly (prelims – 53.90 for 4th; finals 53.46 for 3rd)
100 back (prelims – 56.36 for 3rd; finals 55.73 for 1st)
Enjoyed their graceful talk towards their opponents. Appreciate their Christian spirit.
Obviously Michael and Mr Andrew are doing a wonderful job, but as a fan who wants this young man to become the best swimmer possible it makes me nervous that they don’t have more experienced advisors to offer guidance. Even leaving USRPT out of the equation, objective advisors on stroke technique, starts, turns, etc might be helpful. If he is able to make the Jr PanPacs team maybe they’ll start to develop advisory relationships with coaches they meet. I guess I’m just venting my concerns; I want him to have whatever he needs to succeed.
With as smart as his father seems to be with his swimming knowledge, it would be suicide to not even ask for an outside opinion on those things. My guess is he has people look at them from time to time.
Always very interesting to listen to the father and his son.
I understand very well Peter Andrew with his South African accent. 🙂
MIchael looks to enjoy the competition and always mentions his best rivals.
He’s pushed by them and it helps him to improve..
His goal next week is to make the US junior team for Pan Pacs. Good luck to him.
I think this is a really interesting time in Michael’s development. For the first time, the other swimmers in his cohort have bridged the gap and have started to legitimately challenge him. In addition to Reece Whitley (14), Chandler Bray (15) also beat him in the 100 breast, going a very impressive 1:02.87. Also, Maxime Rooney, who turned 16 this summer, is putting up some really impressive times in the 100 (50.6), 200 (1:49.5), and 100 fly (53.8). Fortunately, it looks like Michael really enjoys the competitions and it’ll be exciting to see how all these guys develop over the next few years.