Williams Featured By USA Swimming – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swim & Dive
Dec. 27, 2011
Colorado Springs, Colorado – USA Swimming’s Bob Schaller featured a 20-question interview with Ohio State associate head coach Stefanie Williams on the national organization’s website this week. Take a look:
www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&itemid=4050&mid=8712
20 Question Tuesday: Stefanie Williams 12/27/2011
By Bob Schaller//Correspondent Stefanie Williams was a key performer in Georgia’s three-peat run 1999-2001 of NCAA titles. Though she missed making the Olympic team in 2004, she picked up three silvers on three National Teams at Pan Ams, World Championships, and World University Games. Now, she’s among the top up-and-coming women’s college coaches. She explains where she’s been, and where she’s headed, in this week’s 20 Question Tuesday.
1. First things first: How are your holidays? Stefanie: My holidays are awesome. I was in Columbus until the 21st. We actually finished school on Dec. 9 and kept all the girls until the 21st, had practice that morning, and then we all went home. I drove to (Pennsylvania) to Kristy Kowal’s house (a Georgia teammate and Olympian). She and I went to New York City and saw the Rockettes. On Saturday morning, I came home to Bloomsburg (Pennsylvania).
2. What is your hometown like? Stefanie: It’s a very small town, and a great place to grow up. I had breakfast this morning with three of my best high school friends. It’s always nice to come home and connect with everyone.
3. How much did you enjoy college? Stefanie: I had an unbelievable college experience. I was very fortunate to end up at the University of Georgia, with (head coach) Jack (Bauerle) and that incredible staff. Even though winning those titles was great, it is those people I met that mean the most. I can still call anyone and pick their brain about coaching, or about life. I definitely grew up a lot during my time in college there.
4. Could you have ever imagined three titles in a row? Stefanie: I had no idea thinking about what we could do in college. It was just crazy how amazing it turned out. Our first NCAAs were at our pool, so we had home-pool advantage. Our class was the winningest in Georgia history. It was incredible.
5. Coming off the two titles, how did you feel going into the 2000 Olympic Trials? Stefanie: I did think I had a pretty good shot in 2000. I had never been at that level before. At Trials, it is just nerve racking. It doesn’t matter if you are good 364 days of the year and not good on that one day. I had put a lot of pressure on myself, but I did terrible. It was not very fun. All I ever wanted to do was represent my country. I had to go right back to school from Trials, and I was contemplating if I wanted to swim anymore. I talked to coach Carol Capitani in her office. It came back to the fact that I love to swim, and have since I started at age 9. I wasn’t going to let my teammates down. We came back and I scored the most points ever at NCAAs, and we won the closest NCAA meet in history. So I went from almost quitting to having the best swim year of my life, and I was able to help my team.
6. How did you get over the disappointment from Trials – what went into that? Stefanie: It definitely was really hard. But talking to Carol, we worked through it, and I was able to talk to a sports psychologist and figure it out, and love the sport again. That was really helpful, and great experience to grow and develop. I wanted to finish what I started there, and I did. I took care of things, and was able to learn a lot about life from it. More than that, I was able to be happy again.
7. Yet you did go on three National team trips – what were those like? Stefanie: Oh my gosh, it’s still exciting. When you get all your stuff from USA Swimming, you get really proud and really excited. I can’t express to you what an honor it is to swim for your country whether it’s over on foreign soil or here in the U.S.
8. Where are your three silver medals? Stefanie: I keep them in a safe place and bring them out if I am doing a speaking engagement, and that’s where they take on even more meaning – because the kids see them and their eyes get huge, and that is what makes them so special to me. To compete in Japan, Korea and Canada was amazing, and sharing these memories, and reflecting on how it all shaped me, really is exciting.
9. It sounds like you really enjoyed your National Team trips? Stefanie: Yes, for sure. Just to be able to travel to those places was amazing – there is no way I would have been able to do that on my own. There I found myself, in Japan, walking around the city, experiencing different cultures and representing my country. I made friends for life, both on the National Team, and around the world. That’s what I carry most with me, those friendships. At Georgia it was that way too, and while I can’t remember a particular race time or placing, I can share a funny or exciting story and memory I had with friends from every meet.
10. How good were the coaches you had? Stefanie: They were the best, and I was so fortunate to have them, from the Bloomsburg YMCA with Don Remaly, to Mike Campbell in high school. I can’t say enough good things about swimming for Dick Shoulberg at Germantown – he is the most amazing man I ever met. I had one of the greatest coaches in the world in Jack Bauerle at Georgia; that whole staff was great there, and I owe so much to Carol Capitani, Jerry Champer and Harvey Humphries. All the teammates I had…they were the most incredible people I ever met. I am constantly surrounded by unbelievable people – I am very lucky.
11. So heading into 2004 Trials, how did you feel? Stefanie: I definitely thought I could do better in Athens. I thought I had a greater chance than in 2000 since in 2000 I was so new to it. But by 2004 I had all the college experience and I had been on three national teams, and finished off my college career and kept going hard. But swimming as a post-grad was just not the same for me. I did train with some of the most amazing swimmers in the world who went onto make the Olympic team, but even though it was my ultimate dream, the great run I had would end. But those were not lost years or anything. I finished my degree, and I trained with Maritza Correia, an amazing person who made the team and did really well.
12. Did you think at that point about becoming a coach? Stefanie: I really didn’t have that in mind. In the last few years of my swimming career, my Dad told me that I would make a good coach. I told him that I didn’t want to coach, that I wanted to (laugh) swim forever! In 2004, when I retired I went back to Pennsylvania and got away from the sport a little bit and really missed it. I knew I wasn’t going to come out of retirement because I wanted people to remember me when I (laughs) swam fast. So I applied to a bunch of universities and Brian Hoffer at Missouri gave me a great opportunity. We worked hard as a team to build the program, and it really has improved. That helped me get this incredible job at Ohio State.
13. Even though you are a Georgia person for life, it must be great to be closer to home at such a great school? Stefanie: Ohio State is amazing, and yes, being closer to home, it’s great that my parents can come visit. Columbus is just awesome. (Head coach) Bill Dorenkott is someone I just love working with – and I really enjoy the people I work with, we have incredible support from the administration, and we get phenomenal student-athletes who come here.
14. What’s it like coaching these women? Stefanie: Coaching is such an important and rewarding job. I get these amazing 26 girls and I get to see them at both their best and their worst. They work together to help each other out on a daily basis. It means so much to help them get started with the rest of their life, and swimming fits in so perfectly with focusing on what you need to work on to be successful.
15. How much did Jack Bauerle shape you? Stefanie: I consider Jack to be a second father to me. It was never about “What can you do for me the next fours,” it was how he genuinely cared for us as people, which is why I think that program is so successful. I thank Jack, Carol and Harvey for the huge influence they had on my life for those years, and how those lessons continue to shape me. The influence those coaches had on me was second only to my parents.
16. It really is about a lot more than swimming, isn’t it? Stefanie: It truly is. Swimming helps shape you so much as a person. Being a teammate to all those incredible women I swam with in college made me who I am today. We all chose different paths, but we have all been successful. We came together and brought the best out of each other, and accomplished things that we really only could have dreamed of.
17. Those pics of you and Kristy Kowal at the Rockettes last week – you two look like you can still compete, don’t you? Stefanie: We definitely learned to take care of ourselves and be healthy. I ran track and played soccer in high school, so when I stopped competing, I started running again. I did my second marathon, and I am hoping to quality for the Boston marathon in 2013. Kristy still swims to stay in shape and looks incredible. We had people in New York coming up to us (laughs) asking if we were models, which was a really good boost! Swimming teaches you so many important things, but one near the top of the list that you keep with you is being healthy and leading an active lifestyle. Plus I always want to set a good example for our student-athletes, and staying fit is part of that.
18. Do you swim with the team at Ohio State? Stefanie: I play a lot of roles: Coach, Mom-away-from-home, counselor and “encourager,” but I don’t get in the water with them! My job is to help them reach their goals, in the pool and in life, and see how those fit together. Being able to help shape these amazing kids is something important that I feel honored to do. I pretend I could still (laughs) get in the water with them and race, but that’s about it. We are mixing up our dryland a lot with spinning, hip hop, and dance, so I will definitely do some of that with them – we have also been doing spinning for a while now, and use rowing machines.
19. You are paving the way, hopefully for more female coaches – does that mean a lot to you? Stefanie: Absolutely. I was in Denver last week for the NCAA women’s coaching academy. There were 40 different coaches from all divisions and sports, and we spent all day and evenings in classes. I learned so much, so when I got back to Ohio State, I immediately started passing that knowledge along to my swimmers. (Associate Athletic Director) T.J. Shelton oversees our program, and he really wants us to continue our professional development, comes to all of our meets, and really encourages us. I want to be that sponge who learns as much as I can, because even when you finish college, you haven’t ended learning – it’s only really just beginning.
20. Can you imagine your life without swimming? Stefanie: I can’t see myself doing anything else because swimming was such a huge part of my life. And after 15 years as an athlete, it was important for me to give back. It’s always about something bigger than swimming, watching them grow and forming relationships, and helping someone next to you make smart choices. These are young people so they will, like I did, mess up at times and make mistakes. You work with them to make smart choices, and to learn from every mistake, so that they grow from it, and become better for the experience
