“As I’m turning into the freestyle, I see two guys that are pretty close to even with me, and that’s when it really hits me — you get back to this wall first, you are the national champion.”
It’s safe to say he was, in fact, the first to get back to the wall — and then some. With three victories, Brayden Morford, sophomore member of the Men’s Swimming and Diving Team, became the winningest same-meet Tartan at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships last weekend, claiming first in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard individual medley, and 400-yard relay.
The four-day event included several preliminary trials and same-day finals rounds in the evening. In total, the team participated in nine events. Morford’s particular performance, however, earned him Tartan Athlete of the Week.
For as long as he can remember, Morford’s been in the pool and working toward his ultimate goal of winning a championship.
“It’s certainly validating,” he said. “I started competitively when I was seven years old, and obviously it’s taken years of work with refining technique and hard training hours in the gym. It’s a relief to see all of that pay off.”
It was also relieving in a different sense: Morford was ranked at the top, mounting a pressure to perform.
“Coming into this, I was the first seed from the regular season in all three of my events,” he said, “so there was a target on my back and I kept asking myself: could I get this done? Definitely a big emphasis on relief.”
Working with Coach Matthew Kinney and other members of the team, Morford has trusted the process and put in the work to get to this point.
“In general, it’s a couple of hours in the pool and in the weight room on any given day,” Morford said. “My goal is that I’m not just swimming and putting in the effort, but also constantly trying to improve something in my race strategy, technique, or whatever else that may be so that I’m not simply more fit, but more efficient.”
It’s no surprise that different races require different skill sets, and in this case, Morford, new to the individual medley, had to focus on certain strokes within his swimming to be competitive.
“Before college, I almost never trained for any breast stroke,” he said. “This year, from day one I was coming in with a huge goal of making it more efficient, while learning to leave more energy for other parts of the race.”
He has a sturdy training plan — almost as sturdy as his pre-race ritual.
“I’ve got my music, then I walk out, and once I get behind my block, I stand in a pose with my feet spread and like, back straight, and I think there’s some psychological effect of that where it helps me.”
He also takes a lot of pride in his teammates Arnav, Christian, and Matthew, and the efforts they’ve made to help the team win the 400-yard medley event.
“Everybody swam perfectly, and everybody executed,” he says, “and that could not have gone better. I’m real proud of my teammates, and not just the ones at nationals but everyone who’s there in the day to day, pushing me in practice to do better and keeping it fun.”
Perhaps in the spirit of a winner, Morford is happy with the results of this event. As a sophomore, he still looks to the future and takes aim at even loftier goals.
“Obviously I’m happy with what we’ve had,” he admitted, “but I mean, there’s still room to improve. I didn’t win all three of my individual events, and our team didn’t win on all of our relays either, right? If I’m not winning all that there is, of course there’s more to do.”
While he has his ambitions for next year and beyond, Morford said he tries to focus on the goal that sits in front of him — getting better every day. After all, “that’s what everyone should be working for, right?”
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