By Dan D’Addona.
The Michigan women’s swim team made a move to reach the top 10 at the NCAA championships in March.
The Wolverines finished 11th, but have all of their scorers returning and picked up an All-American transfer in Taylor Garcia.
Garcia was an All-American on multiple relays for Arizona last year and an NCAA qualifier in the backstroke events, 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle.
It has been a good change of scenery for the Michigan native.
Taylor Garcia. Photo Courtesy: Daryl Marshke/University of Michigan Athletics
“This group just works their tail off every single day,” Garcia said. “Everyone is so dedicated and so focused. It is all about the team and representing Michigan. I am just humbled to be a part of it. This is what I envisioned being a part of a college team was going to be like. I am very grateful for the opportunity to experience that for the rest of my eligibility.”
Garcia’s blue-collar attitude immediately fit in with the Wolverines.
“Having Taylor on the team has a great impact,” senior Gabby DeLoof said. “She is going to basically be an automatic scorer in our NCAA relays, plus her individual events. She is great to be around. She works really hard and tries to push people to the best they can be. She will help our sprint group develop.”
It is a mutually beneficial situation as Garcia also feeds off of her teammates.
People just have their heads down and are hammering away during practice, but it is so positive,” she said. “We are all focused on the goal of winning the Big Ten and being one of the top teams at NCAAs. That is something that everyone focuses on every single day at practice.”
Garcia is united with DeLoof and her two sisters on the team. They grew up swimming against each other.
“Growing up in Michigan, we swam against each other all the time. Gabby and I went to a couple of camps together. You just form those relationships over time. It is really fun to be on the same team as them,” Garcia said. “They definitely bring a fun sisterhood to the team, literally. All of my teammates here are so focused and so driven. It is just incredible to be a part of.”
“We went to camps together and four years of racing against each other. We were great friends but the dynamic of being teammates has been great,” DeLoof said.
Michigan will compete at the Georgia Invitational next week, something Garcia has been looking forward to.
“At Georgia, we can swim four individuals, so I will swim both backstrokes, the 50 free and 100 fly,” Garcia said. “I am really excited. It is a new place. I have never been there before. We don’t really shave or taper for it, so I am excited to see how fast we can all go.”
That includes All-Americans from all over the world.
“Our entire team is accepting and loving. It doesn’t matter where you come from. We all support each other. We definitely talk about NCAAs at our goal meetings,” Garcia said. “What is so exciting is this program has so much rich tradition and all of my teammates have this respect for the Block ‘M.’ We all want to go to NCAAs and do something this program hasn’t done before. The deep respect is really special. That is going to make our successes even greater.”
So awesome!! ???Shawnda Garcia
Thanks girl! See you next week! 🙂
That’s our girl! Happy, loving, and working hard! So proud of #TayyRae
#YayTay