NC State swim coach tastes fast, furious nature of Olympic competition :: WRALSportsFan.com
North Carolina State University Head Swimming Coach Braden Holloway headed to the Olympics for the first time this year as an assistant coach with Team USA.
His Olympic experience started with a training camp in Cary where he got to collaborate with coaches and work with different athletes. Team USA swimming then went to Croatia for two weeks for a performance camp. During this time, Holloway said he got to know the coaches and swimmers better before going to compete at the highest level.
Once they hit the ground in Paris, it was off to the races.
“It was a 100 miles an hour. It was fast. It was furious. It was constant. It was ‘here we go’ and then boom, it was over,” Holloway said.
Every day was a hustle as the team would take long bus rides back and forth to meets and work non-stop once they were there.
“Once the meets started, you’re waking up, you’re getting there early,” he said. “You’re running a workout for someone who’s maybe not competing that day, then you’re there for the prelim session. Then you maybe help a little bit to wrap things up at the end, a couple hours off, then you’re back at it again.”
He said he’s proud of the impact N.C. State is making at the Olympics, especially after getting to see it firsthand this year.
“It makes me proud of the program that we’ve been able to get going here at N.C. State over the last couple of quads to have people there at the Olympics do well,” he said.
One memory he will always cherish is getting to coach N.C. State student Katharine Berkoff to winning a bronze medal in the 100 meter backstroke.
“I would say the high was probably no doubt working with Katharine Berkoff and earning that bronze medal, seeing her smile … I think that’s what it’s all about, is when you watch their happiness and seeing her smile,” he said. “It just kind of melts you a little bit.”
Sadly, Holloway didn’t get to see the Olympics through to the end because his mom became very ill while celebrating her 50th anniversary in Scotland.
“I unfortunately was not there the last day and a half of the swimming, so I could make it to Scotland to see her,” he said.
He spent time with his mom in Scotland before heading back home. He said his mom is now on the mend, and his dad is still in Scotland with her.
Now back in the United States, Holloway said he is grateful for the Olympic experience but happy to be back home with his family after a month away.
Source: wralsportsfan.com