Four women from the University of Virginia appeared with their coach to talk about winning three silver medals and one bronze in Tokyo.
Head swim coach Todd DeSorbo had high praise for Emma Weyant, Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass and Paige Madden who spend 20 hours a week in the pool practicing, but the athletes said DeSorbo also deserved credit for the team’s Olympic performance. At 43, he’s one of the youngest college coaches, and Madden says it shows.
“He’s very energetic, which is a lot of fun. Sometimes it’s a little bit too much when it’s 6 a.m. and he comes in screaming, and I’m barely awake, but he does a really good job of making you believe in yourself.”
DeSorbo said the strong showing by UVA women would, in the long run, help build an even better team.
“More people watch swimming at the Olympic level than any other level, " he says. "To have these young ladies representing Virginia as well as the United States and then to have the announcers talk about the University of Virginia while they’re competing, that goes a long way in making the University of Virginia swimming and diving a household name.”
He noted Stanford has long dominated college swimming and ten-year-old kids who love the sport can be seen wearing Stanford sweatshirts. DeSorbo says his goal is to have 10-year-old swimmers wearing UVA sweatshirts too.
