By: LOUIE FREDA
Name: Courtney Goodrich
Year: Senior
Age: 21
Hometown: Glenmot,New York
Sport: Swimind/Diving
Events: Backstroke, Breastroke
Has swimming always been a major part of your life?
I’ve been swimming my entire life. My mom was a swimmer and introduced me into to the water when I was only a few months old.
You compete in both backstroke and breastroke, which event do you like more and why?
Every year it changes; they both have their positive and negative aspects. Right now I think like them pretty evenly.
Are there any events, competitions or rivals that you look forward to competing against the most during swim season?
One of the meets we really look forward to is swimming against Nazareth College. They have always been a powerhouse team, but in recent years we’ve gained a lot of depth to our team and have been able to draw the scores much closer together. I look forward to seeing the team climb over them in the next couple of years.
The team just went on a training trip to Del Ray, FL over break. What was that experience like for you and the team?
The training trip is always a love/hate relationship. We have our toughest practices of the season during the trip, which psuh us mentally and physically to the max. Despite this, I always enjoy swimming in a 50 meter pool outside in the sun versus the 25 yard pool we swim in everyday. I’ll take 70s and sun over the subzero tempetures of Canton any day. We end up having a lot of fun going to the beach in our down time and end up getting very close as a team since we spend almost every hour of the day with each other for a week.
What is your favorite swimming memory at SLU?
My favorite memory would be from my freshman year when both men’s and women’s teams won our first meet together that season and we ran out in our wet bathing suits, through the snow, to ring the Victorty Bell.
How excited are you and the team for the State Championships in February?
We’re getting really pumped for States! We train for it starting in August and don’t really get to see big time drops as a result of our training until then, which is always very exciting.
What are some team building activities that you do?
From the first day we step on campus we start team activities, such as canoeing on the river, running to the rope swing and playing ultimate Frisbee. We even go on team “dates” to dinner, ice cream and the movies every now and then. This year we added a new component to our team building by having a type of book club around the book The Energy Bus, which enhanced our understanding of each other and our needs, our team goals, how to motivate and ultimately succeed as a team.
Do you have post graduation plans yet?
Right now, I am planning on working for a while in a lab, but I eventually would like to pursue my PhD possibly in bioengineering.
Any shout outs or people you want to thank?
Shout out to townhouse 601: Maureen, Kirbs, Albie, Brett and Josh, and of course my team! Special thanks to my mom and dad without whom I would not have had the opportunity to be a student at SLU!