Friday, July 23, 2021
Rhyan White is Brimming with Confidence Heading into Tokyo Olympics
In many ways, Rhyan White owes her success from NCAA Championships earlier this year to making her first Olympic team last month in Omaha.
Heading into NCAAs this past March, she said her confidence level was low and she didn’t begin the meet with very high expectations.
However, by the conclusion of the meet, she had earned two runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events – and that catapulted her into believing she had a real shot at fulfilling her Olympic dream.
“Going into (both) SEC’s (Southeastern Conference) and NCAAs, I wasn’t swimming my races; I was focusing more on what everyone else was doing instead of on what I could do,” said White, who earned All-America honors in the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay at NCAA Championships this spring.
“I learned a lot about myself at that meet, and that definitely helped me as I continued to prepare for Trials. I worked a lot on improving myself and getting into the right mindset.”
That prep paid off for White, who qualified for two events (100 and 200 backstrokes) at the Tokyo Olympics. Swimming starts Saturday, but her first event, the 100 backstroke, is on Sunday.
White, who finished as the runner-up to American record holder Regan Smith in the 100 back on the third day of Trials, qualified in the 200 back by overcoming her third-seeded time in the final to win the event over Phoebe Bacon. Smith – also the world-record holder in this event – finished third.
Since the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming, White said she has embraced her self-belief more and more and put the pressure of winning aside to focus more on swimming her best races.
If the wins come (and they have), then she said she feels validated in approaching Trials and now the Olympics with the same level of confidence and focus.
“I went into Trials having taken the pressure off by knowing that I would be proud of myself for getting to where I am,” said White, who completed her junior year at the University of Alabama this spring. “I feel like represented myself well (in Omaha), and I expect the same thing from myself in Japan.”
Having three older brothers and an older sister, White started swimming at 5 years old when she took swimming lessons so they could all swim together.
Originally, she was a 50 and 100 butterfly swimmer, but at 13, she made the transition to backstroke during a meet in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“I realized I could do underwaters better for back than fly, and at the urging of my coach, I moved to backstroke,” said White, who hails from Herriman, Utah. “Listening to my coach is something I have always done. I know they’ve always had my best interests in mind.”
White’s biggest cheerleader – along with close friends, family and Alabama teammates – making her believe that she had a chance at making this year’s Olympic team was her coach, Ozzie Quevedo.
In the weeks and even days leading up to Trials, it was her coaches who continuously instilled the idea that she could do it in her mind – and the muscle memory from her training did the rest.
“My coach always says he knows what I can do, and having a coach saying those things really helped with my confidence,” said White, who finished second to Bacon in the 200 back at NCAAs but returned the favor at Trials.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting to make it (the team), but his words and confidence in me helped push me. He made me believe that I definitely had as much of a chance as everyone else.”
At Alabama, White says she does a lot of individual medley training, which she believes has helped not only develop her backstroke technique but also increased her endurance and speed and made her a stronger swimmer.
She also spends a good bit of her practices working on her underwaters.
Through her three years at Alabama, she’s learned that consistency, hard practice and active rest are the keys to helping her attain her goals in the pool.
She’s also learned that when you work hard, it’s also important to play hard – especially through the pandemic.
“It’s been a tough year in a lot of ways, but I also believe that having this extra year to train and get stronger helped me (at Trials),” she said. “I’ve learned a lot about myself in the past year, and although I firmly believe I would have been strong at Trials in 2020, I know waiting to compete in 2021 helped.
“Being an Olympian is something I’ve been talking about since the fifth grade – a friend recently reminded me of that – but I was going to swim the fly back then. But now my dream has come true, and I’m ready to take it one step further and medal. That would definitely complete the dream.”
Heading into NCAAs this past March, she said her confidence level was low and she didn’t begin the meet with very high expectations.
However, by the conclusion of the meet, she had earned two runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events – and that catapulted her into believing she had a real shot at fulfilling her Olympic dream.
“Going into (both) SEC’s (Southeastern Conference) and NCAAs, I wasn’t swimming my races; I was focusing more on what everyone else was doing instead of on what I could do,” said White, who earned All-America honors in the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay at NCAA Championships this spring.
“I learned a lot about myself at that meet, and that definitely helped me as I continued to prepare for Trials. I worked a lot on improving myself and getting into the right mindset.”
That prep paid off for White, who qualified for two events (100 and 200 backstrokes) at the Tokyo Olympics. Swimming starts Saturday, but her first event, the 100 backstroke, is on Sunday.
White, who finished as the runner-up to American record holder Regan Smith in the 100 back on the third day of Trials, qualified in the 200 back by overcoming her third-seeded time in the final to win the event over Phoebe Bacon. Smith – also the world-record holder in this event – finished third.
Since the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Swimming, White said she has embraced her self-belief more and more and put the pressure of winning aside to focus more on swimming her best races.
If the wins come (and they have), then she said she feels validated in approaching Trials and now the Olympics with the same level of confidence and focus.
“I went into Trials having taken the pressure off by knowing that I would be proud of myself for getting to where I am,” said White, who completed her junior year at the University of Alabama this spring. “I feel like represented myself well (in Omaha), and I expect the same thing from myself in Japan.”
Having three older brothers and an older sister, White started swimming at 5 years old when she took swimming lessons so they could all swim together.
Originally, she was a 50 and 100 butterfly swimmer, but at 13, she made the transition to backstroke during a meet in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“I realized I could do underwaters better for back than fly, and at the urging of my coach, I moved to backstroke,” said White, who hails from Herriman, Utah. “Listening to my coach is something I have always done. I know they’ve always had my best interests in mind.”
White’s biggest cheerleader – along with close friends, family and Alabama teammates – making her believe that she had a chance at making this year’s Olympic team was her coach, Ozzie Quevedo.
In the weeks and even days leading up to Trials, it was her coaches who continuously instilled the idea that she could do it in her mind – and the muscle memory from her training did the rest.
“My coach always says he knows what I can do, and having a coach saying those things really helped with my confidence,” said White, who finished second to Bacon in the 200 back at NCAAs but returned the favor at Trials.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting to make it (the team), but his words and confidence in me helped push me. He made me believe that I definitely had as much of a chance as everyone else.”
At Alabama, White says she does a lot of individual medley training, which she believes has helped not only develop her backstroke technique but also increased her endurance and speed and made her a stronger swimmer.
She also spends a good bit of her practices working on her underwaters.
Through her three years at Alabama, she’s learned that consistency, hard practice and active rest are the keys to helping her attain her goals in the pool.
She’s also learned that when you work hard, it’s also important to play hard – especially through the pandemic.
“It’s been a tough year in a lot of ways, but I also believe that having this extra year to train and get stronger helped me (at Trials),” she said. “I’ve learned a lot about myself in the past year, and although I firmly believe I would have been strong at Trials in 2020, I know waiting to compete in 2021 helped.
“Being an Olympian is something I’ve been talking about since the fifth grade – a friend recently reminded me of that – but I was going to swim the fly back then. But now my dream has come true, and I’m ready to take it one step further and medal. That would definitely complete the dream.”