Cavalier sophomore Ed Moses left the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships this weekend with two world short course records and two NCAA gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke. His accomplishments gained him the Swimmer of the Championship award and a central place in Virginia swimming history, but Moses is already shifting his focus to the future.
What more lies ahead? Olympic gold, for one thing. Four months from the trials for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Moses is headed straight back into to the water without much of a break to enjoy his records.
"Hopefully we can take this thing a few steps further in about six more months," Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said. "Up until this time, his collegiate season has been the focus. We didn't want to put the cart before the horse."
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At NCAAs this weekend, Moses shaved almost a full second off the world record in the 100 breast with a time of 57.66 seconds. His 2:06.40 mark in the 200 sliced more than a second off the old standard. Moses said he might do even better this summer in Sydney, provided he secures his expected place on the U.S. team.
Olympic pools are 50 meters long, compared to the 25-meter short course pool Moses swam in at NCAAs. Some swimmers might see their times suffer when each lap is twice as long, but Moses said he actually could benefit from a 50-meter pool. His long stroke should be more of an advantage when he has to turn only half as many times.
Both Moses and Bernardino maintain there is plenty of room for improvement in Moses' race strategy, but the Lake Braddock native is always learning.
"One of the things that makes him great is [that] as he's racing, he's seeing the race in his mind in slow motion," Bernardino said. "He's very intuitive, he's very analytical, he's critical in a positive sense of his own performances. He's wise enough to understand the significance of what he's achieved, but he's also astute enough to know how he can make some adjustments to his race strategy to be even better."
Moses seems to have the psychological prowess needed to maintain his world records. Bernardino said the most impressive part of Moses' performance this weekend was his ability to live up to his No. 1 seed in both breaststroke events.
"This was the first time he has ever gone into a meet as 'The Man,'" Bernardino said. "He's always been the unheralded person who came from nowhere to do well. This is the first time he's gone into a meet, under the gun, with the pressure of being the guy to beat. Part of what excites me is how well he responded to those pressures. I was curious to see how he would respond to the pressure of being the one that was shouldering the burden for the future of American breaststroke."
Moses said his status as the unquestioned front-runner puts him in an enviable position.
"It sets me up in a good position because when you go into a meet like that, everyone has their eyes on you including your competitors," Moses said. "I think everyone wanted to see what I was doing; everyone is worried about what I do rather than their own races. Knowing that I can concentrate and focus on my races and hopefully do what I went there to do."
Less than a week after the NCAAs, Moses may not have the energy to pull off any record-breaking performances at this week's National Swimming Championships in Seattle. But six months from now in Sydney, he will be focused on lowering his world records a notch - or two.
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