Rhyan White needed a new scene.
After five years at Alabama, including making the Olympic team in both backstroke events, the pressure to keep it up started to build.
White said it was self-pressure, and she needed a new perspective. She moved to join the NC State training group in Raleigh just a month ago, but is already seeing a new self.
White finished second in the 200 backstroke to qualify for the World Championships for the second time. Her time of 2:05.78 was near her personal best, and held off a heat full of Olympians.
“It is definitely refreshing. It feels like there is a weight lifted off my shoulders and I don’t have to prove myself,” White said. “It was fun to enjoy racing again.”
She said that feeling got suppressed the past couple of years.
“After the Games and worlds last year, I just put a lot of pressure on myself, especially taking a fifth year at Alabama. That year was hard. There is a reason college is four years. I was ready for change, and being in the same environment was challenging,” Rhyan White said.
So it was time for a new challenge.
“It is fun, it’s new and it is kind of scary, but it is good to be uncomfortable.
I swim the best when I am feeling free and confident,” White said. “Before the swim, I felt nerves that I haven’t felt since Olympic Trials in 2021. They were exciting nerves – nervous that I was going to do good, not nerves that I would embarrass myself. I know it is not embarrassing to lose, but that is the pressure we put on ourselves in the sport.”
She credited NC State coach Braden Holloway with helping her mental approach right before the 200 backstroke.
“I went in with no expectations. I talked to Braden and asked him to tell me that it doesn’t matter what happens. I have been trying to tell myself this, but I needed to hear it from someone else,” she said.
That helped her remove her self-pressure and go out and perform to her potential, and earn another spot at the World Championships.
