CALDWELL, Idaho – The pressure is heating up. As each swimmer makes their way to the lane, they have to stare at the cool depths in front of them as they prepare the starting routine: standing behind the starting block, getting on the block and launching into the water.
But there's no pressure for
Maya Murphy. Not only has she been in this situation an endless number of times, but she's mentally prepared for this moment well before she enters the meet.
"I like to do a lot of visualization of my races," Murphy said. "I'll visualize up to two weeks before. Every night I'll try to visualize a race and all the muscle movements. I'll pick a time of how fast I want to go and I'll visualize going in that time."
It's Murphy's persistent preparation that's made her a 10-time All-American and a school record holder of four events going into her senior season.
"Maya is one of the captains and a hard worker on the team, head coach
Tyler Maryon said. "She works really hard in classes, makes friends with people easily, and is a fun person to be around. It is not hard to see why so many people are so drawn to her."
More than 1,800 miles away from her home in Buford, Ga., Murphy came to C of I to explore a whole new part of the country and continue her swimming career. With the help of coaches Maryon and
Greg Colby, she was able to refine her talent and immediately make an impact.
"One thing I've learned at C of I is that technique is so important," Murphy said. "For my club team in high school, there was a huge focus on doing tons of yardage and doing it fast, but not necessarily doing it right. When I came here, I could go fast but I did not have very good technique. Being here, we've done a lot of technique work and that's what has helped me drop event times overtime."
In her freshman and sophomore seasons, Murphy earned two seventh place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle (24.34 and 24.01) and top-10 finishes in the 100-yard freestyle (53.30 and 52.55) at the NAIA National Championships final. As part of the 200-medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay teams, Murphy helped the Yotes get to two top-10 finishes to earn All-American honors.
Despite the COVID-shortened season her junior year, Murphy recorded strong times in the 50-yard freestyle (24.12) and 100-yard freestyle (53.12) to earn All-American honors at the A.I.I Championships. Even with fewer meets and the canceled NAIA National Championships, Murphy continued to work hard and improve her talent whenever she was in the pool.
"One of the biggest keys to Maya's success aside from her work ethic is how coachable she is," Maryon said. "Whether it comes from myself, another coach, or even herself she will always work on how to improve parts of her stroke and races."
During the COVID-shortened season, both the men's and women's swim teams had to stay in pods of four to limit exposure of other athletes. This restriction limited team interactions throughout the season, which made team bonding a necessity going into Murphy's senior year.
"We've been working really hard on having team activities where we get to know each other," Murphy said. "[Tyler] has been switching us around in lanes so we're practicing with different people. We really wanted to focus becoming more of a team."
In the 2021 season opener against Simpson University, the cohesive unit would help lift the Yotes to a 133-23 team win over the Red Hawks inside the J.A. Albertson Aquatics Center. Hitting two NAIA "B" qualifying times, Murphy took away wins in the 200-yard medley relay (1:54.72), 50-yard freestyle (24.54), 100-yard freestyle (53.66) and 400 freestyle relay (3:55.23).
"It was just nice to get back to in-person dual meets," Maryon said. "For [Maya], she loves to race and it shows when she is at meets. She has the speed and the drive to get to the wall first in her events. We had a lot of good races and things look really good for the rest of this season."
Despite the overwhelming win over the weekend,
Maya Murphy and the C of I women's swim and dive team are already focused on the next meet at hand. Whether that's visualizing beforehand, building team chemistry or improving in the pool, Murphy is always preparing to win.
"We're still getting back into racing post-COVID, but people weren't exactly happy with the times that they got in the first meet," Murphy said. "Because of that, we're very excited about the next meet and the season ahead."
The Yotes hit the road for the Slug Shootout next Friday in Santa Cruz, Calif.
