FEATURE: Swimming & Diving Thriving Under Coach Petra Martin

From just a swimming team back in 2009, to a swimming & diving team now, BGSU swimming & diving coach Petra Martin has electrified a program that was once in need of a jumpstart.

Since the start of Coach Martin's tenure, she made an immediate impact on the program. Even when that impact meant just three dual meet wins in 2010-11 (compared to one the previous year) and a sixth-place finish at the MAC Championships (the best finish for the team in three years).

The program blossomed even further under coach Martin the next year as she guided the Falcons to 35 personal records, 11 season-bests, and four school records at the MAC Championships, helping Alexis Kain gain All-MAC second team honors with second-place finishes in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

Over the next two seasons, Martin would bring the BGSU swimming and diving team to new heights. She led the program to its best MAC Championship finishes in more than a decade with back-to-back third place finishes, guiding Daniela Carrillo to an NCAA Championship appearance as well as to the World University Games. While grooming freshman Victoria Griffin into a four-time MAC Swimmer of the Week in 2013-14, she showed everyone the top-end talent that can be recruited to the program.

But all of that was just a precursor to the 2014-15 season. Martin took the team to a 9-1 dual meet record, 13 consecutive dual meet victories over the span of two seasons, reintroduced diving to BGSU, and has completely changed the culture and attitude of the team to mirror her intensity and passion.

"Everybody is going to say that it is fun," Martin said. "What happens behind it though is a lot of hard work, a lot of culture changing, a lot of long hours. But it is definitely worth it. I am really happy where we are as a program at this point and hope to keep moving forward because there is always something better that you can do."

31131

Not only has Coach Martin seen the changes, but so have the student-athletes as they can tell the program has changed through her influence.

"We are definitely more goal driven," junior Hannah Newman said. "She has taught us that if we put the work in at practice and if we work on the small things, it is really going to help us in the long run. If we get together as a team and have the same goal, we can really go far."

Although Coach Martin brought success to the program through her coaching prowess and experience, it was her job to first find the right people to surround her in order to make the program what she envisioned it to be.

"It was finding the right people; finding who the right leaders are," Martin said. "You start to snowball when you find one or two people and then slowly a couple of them start following and it starts getting better. Plus, when you start to bring people in that have the right motivation that are the right student-athlete -- they have the right mental approach, they want to be a team player -- those are all signs of change. The teamwork, the drive, their willingness to put things on the line, to take risks in order to be successful."

It was not just the culture change and the new-found motivation that Coach Martin emphasized, but also the importance of community and togetherness that helped draw talent to the BGSU Swimming and Diving team.

"When I came for a visit the team was like a family which was really important to me," Griffin, now a sophomore and seven-time MAC Swimmer of the Week, said. "It just felt like I fit in from the beginning even though I was not a part of the team yet but they made me feel welcomed and coach is a great person; to be training with her is just an awesome experience."

Newman was also convinced by Martin to come to BGSU for swimming and diving.

"Coach Martin really put it in my mind when I came here on my recruiting trip that I want to get better," Newman said. "With more people coming in, we can do better things and I wanted to come into a program that was building. Coach definitely showed me on my recruiting trip that it was possible."

With all the pieces of the puzzle finally connected, Coach Martin has revolutionized the BGSU Swimming and Diving program by creating an atmosphere that is clicking on all cylinders.

"We will do anything to help them and to get them to the level where they can be successful," Martin said. "They know they have us, and they can trust us and we trust them, and that's huge to have that trust going back and forth."

The BGSU swimming and diving team will look to take another step at the MAC Championships starting Wednesday. The event will take place in Ypsilanti, Mich. on the campus of Eastern Michigan.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Players Mentioned

Daniela Carrillo

Victoria Griffin

Hannah Newman

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Bowling Green State University Athletics