As USC women's swimming and diving begins its national championship quest today, the Trojans are perceived among the favorites as the top ranked team in the country. While the Women of Troy embrace that goal, they don't share the perception.
"We still have that underdog attitude going in even though we were ranked No. 1 throughout the whole season," said junior Kasey Carlson (pictured by Paul Goldberg). "I don't like to put expectations on ourselves, but this year, we can see it in our sights."
Carlson is indicative of the entire Trojans team which appears to be rounding into form at just the right time. The junior won the Pac-12 title in the 100y breast, and she is a contender in the 50y free and 100y free.
"Everything is coming together. I'm trying to build off the momentum from a really great Pac-12."
As are the Women of Troy, who posted a school record point total at the conference championship, and narrowly lost the Pac-12 title to Stanford. The truth is that elite swimmers like Carlson are not the key to winning in Indianapolis. USC's fortunes will be determined by its depth.
The NCAA scores the top 16 finishers in each race, so head coach Dave Salo's advice to his team is "be average." By Salo's math, if the Trojans finish fourth in every event, they will be champions.
So, while Olympic silver medalist Haley Anderson is a gold chip to play, the team's fate might just rest with a stellar freshmen class featuring Kendyl Stewart, Kasia Wilk and Jasmine Tosky.
"Our freshmen have been so great in becoming a part of the team so quickly," said Carlson. "They don't have that typical freshman mentality where you are kind of unknown. They are going to make really big moves, hopefully this weekend."
With that kind of pressure on young swimmers, Carlson shared a piece of advice for the freshmen, "Not only swim for yourself but compete for USC. Even if you are not doing so well, you still have to Fight On."
The veterans know all about that championship mentality, and they thrive off it. Carlson is focused on lowering her personal best times, but she knows that nothing will make her swim as fast as eying her competition.
"It's both a race against the clock and a race against your opponent. Having that person in the next lane over pushes you to swim faster and touch out someone from Stanford or UCLA."
The NCAA Championships will take place over the next three days in Indianapolis. Click here for a complete outlook with broadcast times.
"We still have that underdog attitude going in even though we were ranked No. 1 throughout the whole season," said junior Kasey Carlson (pictured by Paul Goldberg). "I don't like to put expectations on ourselves, but this year, we can see it in our sights."Carlson is indicative of the entire Trojans team which appears to be rounding into form at just the right time. The junior won the Pac-12 title in the 100y breast, and she is a contender in the 50y free and 100y free.
"Everything is coming together. I'm trying to build off the momentum from a really great Pac-12."
As are the Women of Troy, who posted a school record point total at the conference championship, and narrowly lost the Pac-12 title to Stanford. The truth is that elite swimmers like Carlson are not the key to winning in Indianapolis. USC's fortunes will be determined by its depth.
The NCAA scores the top 16 finishers in each race, so head coach Dave Salo's advice to his team is "be average." By Salo's math, if the Trojans finish fourth in every event, they will be champions.
So, while Olympic silver medalist Haley Anderson is a gold chip to play, the team's fate might just rest with a stellar freshmen class featuring Kendyl Stewart, Kasia Wilk and Jasmine Tosky.
"Our freshmen have been so great in becoming a part of the team so quickly," said Carlson. "They don't have that typical freshman mentality where you are kind of unknown. They are going to make really big moves, hopefully this weekend."
With that kind of pressure on young swimmers, Carlson shared a piece of advice for the freshmen, "Not only swim for yourself but compete for USC. Even if you are not doing so well, you still have to Fight On."
The veterans know all about that championship mentality, and they thrive off it. Carlson is focused on lowering her personal best times, but she knows that nothing will make her swim as fast as eying her competition.
"It's both a race against the clock and a race against your opponent. Having that person in the next lane over pushes you to swim faster and touch out someone from Stanford or UCLA."
The NCAA Championships will take place over the next three days in Indianapolis. Click here for a complete outlook with broadcast times.
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