University of Tennessee Athletics
Catching Up with Ricky Henahan
January 23, 2012 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 23, 2012
BY JORDAN PREWITT
UTSPORTS.COM
Senior Ricky Henahan is wrapping up his swimming career at Tennessee, but there are still a few more stops to go before his time with the Vols is finished.
There's the final dual meet of the season on Saturday against Florida. Then the SEC Championships at home. Then one last shot at the NCAAs in March.
The Vols' primary backstroker, Henahan has made the most of his final season so far. He has won the 100-yard backstroke in four of five meets this season and has already clocked an NCAA B-cut time in the event. Twice. The native of Rochester, N.Y., has also been a key piece in most of the Vols' relays.
Need to know more about Henahan? Here's a quick Q&A:
Q: What was the main reason you decided to come to UT?
A: "The closeness of the team definitely brought me here. Everyone really supports each other. I visited Texas, Kentucky, Minnesota, and other schools, but Tennessee by far had the closest group of guys, and I think that was a big selling point for me. That and all the traditions Tennessee has."
Q: When it comes to traditions, what are some of the ones that the team has. Maybe for every meet or just some funny ones in general?
A: "For every away meet, we bring water from our home pool and before the meet we dump the water into the other teams pool, and that usually gets us going and usually makes our opponents kinda mad. We also have coonskin caps, and we only get those when the coaching staff decides that we have really come together as a team, and those are the hardest things to get. That is what we strive for every year, it is definitely the highest award you can get as a Tennessee Vol swimmer. We were actually fortunate enough to get them last year which was awesome."
Q: Do you have any traditions of your own that you partake in before meets?
A: "I really like to do laps under water before the meet. It gets me really relaxed and allows me to get my head clear."
Q: Being that you swim backstroke, has that always been your best stroke, and is that always what you wanted to swim?
A: "It was actually the last stroke I learned how to do. I started swimming when I was 4 and I didn't learn how to do backstroke until I was six because I couldn't float on my back, but when I got that down, it really started coming together. I really took off with backstroke, and ever since then I have just been naturally really good at it."
Q: You have a few big meets to end the season, traveling to Georgia and then coming home next week for Florida on senior day, what are some of your personal goals that you would like to achieve for those meets and also some of your teams goals for those meets as well?
A: "Georgia and Florida are two really good teams, I think if we go into those meets hitting all our turns and all our starts and come together they are definitely winnable meets. My goal is to win both of my individual races. Georgia isn't very deep in backstroke, but Florida will be a little more of a challenge."
Q: Not too far down the road you have the SEC Championships coming home here in Knoxville, talk about the atmosphere of having all those teams here in your home pool for the Championships, and fighting for the title to hopefully bring it back to Knoxville.
A: "That is definitely our goal, but we have had a lot of struggles as a team this year, honestly we are the dark horse this year, which is a good place to be. I think we will surprise a lot of people and show them that Tennessee is still around and competing for that championship."
Q: Finally, what are some of your hobbies outside of swimming that you like to do in your free time?
A: "I like to read and also volunteer at the children's hospital. On Saturday I volunteer, and I have been doing that since the end of October. I get to go around and talk to the kids and entertain some of the children while their brothers and sisters are getting treatment."
Q: Since you do service work here in Knoxville, is that something you would like to do after graduation?
A: "It is definitely possible. I am really good with kids, so I am thinking of getting my doctorate in Children's Psychology and continuing to work with them. But at least for right now I enjoy volunteering. It is really satisfying and a great feeling."
Q: How did you get involved working at the Children's Hospital?
A: "Over the summer I volunteered at the boys and girls club which was a great opportunity for me. I was a swim instructor so I got to get in the water with the kids which was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed that, so after that was over, I wanted to keep volunteering, and so I looked into volunteering at the hospital, and it all worked out."
