The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
06.27.2016 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Madisyn Cox had an idea of how to get over a disappointing swim at the NCAA Championships.
OMAHA, Neb. – Madisyn Cox didn't like her 400-yard individual medley swim at the NCAA Championships.
So she took out her frustration on most of the field Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials.
There's nothing wrong with a 4:07.84 in the 400-yard individual medley. It's actually quite fast. But at the NCAA Championships in March, the issue was two-fold; the swim didn't meet Cox's expectations, and it wasn't fast enough to qualify for the championship final at the national championships.
In the short term, she put that behind her by winning the consolation final and settling for a ninth-place finish in the event at the NCAA Championships. But in the long term, there was unfinished business.
"That was disappointing to have that race at the NCAA Championships, but something like that helped fuel my fire for the rest of the year," Cox said.
Three months of long-course training ushered in the U.S. Olympic Trials where Cox and 118 others stared down the 400 IM on Sunday, the meet's opening day. She entered with a seed time of 4:41.75 and trimmed off nearly a second (4:40.97) in lane six of heat four, swim one of her second Olympic Trials.
More importantly, the "what if" fell by the wayside. Only five others had finished ahead of Cox in the 400 IM preliminaries at Trials. It would have taken eight to keep her out of the finals at Trials, but there weren't eight to be found.
"Redemption is always nice," she said.
Cox went out aggressively in the first half of her 400 IM final, uncharacteristic for the swimmer perhaps better known for pushing it on the back half with her best two strokes, breaststroke and freestyle.
"Madisyn has liked to rely on her breast and free as the foundation of her IM swims, and she's put a lot of work in to her fly and back this spring so she can go out more aggressively and with confidence," said Texas head coach Carol Capitani. "That's exactly what happened. There is nothing like seeing the long process of work and belief come together like it did in that swim."
The approach paid dividends, and she didn't have to sacrifice stamina for consistency, or vice versa.
"I've been focusing a lot on that front half and pushing that (butter)fly," Cox said. "I felt that if I could get my backstroke together that I could put my four strokes together."
She put them together, alright. Cox went from ninth in the event at the NCAA Championships to fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials, a meet rich with the same stout competition from the NCAA Championships plus older, tougher and more seasoned veterans.
The swim didn't announce her presence on the American swimming scene. She had already been there for years. But if you didn't know already, you know now she isn't going anywhere.
"I'm feeling good. This is going to be a fun meet."
