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Force 3 UMBC Athlete of the Week: Tina Cantwell
10/31/2006
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Force 3 UMBC Athlete of the Week: Tina Cantwell
Name: Tina Cantwell
Sport/Position: Women’s Swimming and Diving/Breast and IM
Hometown/High School: Sinking Spring,
Last Week: Part of 1st place 400-meter medley relay (4:23.89), 2nd place in 200-meter individual medley (2:24.70), 2nd place in 200-meter breaststroke (2:32.83) against Navy (10/28); Part of 1st place 400-yard medley relay (3:58.34), 3rd place in 200-yard individual medley (2:09.75), 1st place in 200-yard breaststroke (2:18.12) against New Hampshire and Wagner (10/29).
Retrievers Last Week: 2-1—Lost to Navy, 97-146 (10/28); won against
Tina Cantwell swam the 200-meter breaststroke in a time of 2:32.83 against Navy last week, and became the second Retriever in two years to earn an NCAA Division I Swimming Championship consideration time after Meghan Sackett achieved the feat in the 500 and 1650 freestyles last year. The accomplishment earns Cantwell the title of Force 3 UMBC Athlete of the Week for the current week.
Cantwell, a Sinking Spring,
The day after achieving the NCAA B-Cut, Cantwell went on to swim her best career performance in a 25-yard pool in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:18.12, more than a second faster than her previous best time of 2:19.64, set last season. The time of 2:18.12, if her conversion time was not recognized, would also rank second on the UMBC Women’s All-Time Top 10.
Second best is not something that Cantwell is satisfied with, however. “One of [Tina’s] best qualities is that she is extremely competitive,” said assistant coach Chris Gibeau, “and that shows in practice, in the weight room and during dryland. She is determined to do things to the best of her abilities. She doesn’t like to lose.”
Cantwell has had plenty of time to hone her skills, as she has been swimming competitively for 13 years and has had the same goal since she was just 13 years old. “Going to [NCAA Championships] along with Olympic Trials and Senior Nationals is something I have been wanting and working for since I was 13,” said Cantwell.
With Cantwell already qualified for both USA Swimming national competitions, she has two more goals to reach and three years to do it. “The potential is there for a lot of success,” said Gibeau. “The future depends on what the athlete is willing to put in and judging from what Tina has already done, it seems like she wants to put the work in. Qualifying for the NCAA Championships is not out of reach and, eventually, if she keeps up the work she can get an Olympic Trial cut.”
Those 13 years did not come without road bumps along the way, as Cantwell started to become burnt out on swimming during her high school years and turned to water polo for a break from swimming.
The transition from high school to college, however, helped Cantwell regain a love for the sport and put her on a track for success. “I think Tina has really clicked in this environment and become more reenergized about swimming,” said Gibeau. Cantwell echoes these same sentiments and claims that the “new team, new coaches and new training were all something I was looking forward to and I was excited to see how it would effect me in the sport and with my success.”
That new team is the UMBC women’s swimming and diving team, which finished second in the conference championships last season by a mere 54 points, to a New Hampshire team that the Retrievers recently handed a 135-103 dual-meet loss. I think our women’s team is better set for conferences this year,” said Cantwell. “We definitely have the potential to win. We have more depth in key events than we did least year and I think we do have more talent overall.”
Cantwell and the rest of the Retrievers return to the pool this weekend when they host