Third-year Leah Smith won the 500 and
1,650 freestyle races at the NCAA Cham-
pionships for the second straight year.
PHOTO COURTESY UVA
The new coach came in with a focus on
relays, speed and fitness — vastly different
from Bernardino's distance-based approach.
"I'm a product of what we did at Ar-
izona," Busch said. "A lot of race-pace,
going fast in practice, weights, dry land,
running, a lot of out-of-the-water fitness in
general. A more technique kind of style."
In order to take the program to the next
level in terms of NCAA competition, Busch
knew the team needed to be stronger in
relay-based events, which are primarily
sprints.
"Relays are very important," Bar-
tholomew said. "They are double the points.
If you take a relay in the top three, that's
going to double the points and in the team
race it's vital."
