Quotes by Nort Thornton

“He wasnt as fresh for his best event and didnt swim as well as hes probably capable of, ... because he chose to be a team player rather than go with his best event. We told him this year were going to try and help him out and try to get him in his best event.”

“Hes an amazing kid, ... Hes a really good team person. Hes always helping people. Hes got only one B since hes been at Cal. Hes an impressive young man. Hes a good person, a leader.”

“We know the level of competition (we will face) and were optimistic at this point.”

“(To win) we need to make our best times, but this meet will also be determined a lot by the people who get second, third and fourth because thats more points that we can take away from them.”

“We have a lot of motivation. Were currently No. 1 in the country and for some guys, its the last swim of their (regular season) college careers.”

“We may not have won, but we had the highest number of improved performances this week.”

“In swimming, when you head into championships, it gets worse before it gets better because when you start resting up, you get a bit sluggish the last couple of meets before it.”

“Its what you think and how you think-confidence. If you believe you can do it, you can. If you dont, it doesnt matter how good you are, youll never do it.”

“Its kind of like a funnel. Meets are just stops along the way and everything funnels down to that goal.”

“I think we are right on target and I think we will do really well in the championships.”