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Third-year Mei Christensen and the Virginia swimming and diving teams are back in action at home this weekend with a tri-meet against ACC foe Florida State and Big Ten rival Penn State. The two-day meet begins at 6 p.m. Friday and will continue at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Aquatic and Fitness Center. Christensen recently sat down with VirginiaSports.com to talk about her reason for attending UVa, her favorite coach Bernardino saying and pursuing a career in education.
Question: How was the meet last week at Kentucky?
Christensen: We had a meeting beforehand and (head coach) Mark (Bernardino) really stressed the team aspect. The guys swam on Thursday so we were excited to swim. We all just wanted to perform our best for the team.
Question: What are the advantages of swimming at home?
Christensen: We have only had one home meet, and that was against (Virginia) Tech. I think that really surprised a lot of people. We had a fantastic performance. Everyone is excited to have another home meet. Florida State and Penn State are both really awesome teams. They will give us a lot of competition this weekend.
Question: How did you get started swimming?
Christensen: I got started in summer league, as a lot of people do. I didn’t like it then; I was kind of forced into it by my parents. As the years have passed I have really grown to love it and it has become such a big part of my life. It’s just really great, the people you meet, and the success you can achieve through training and competing.
Question: What do you love about it?
Christensen: I am still discovering things about it that I love. Sometimes I think of it as a love-hate relationship but at least this season, I am having a lot of fun. I am really excited to see what we can do.
Question: What made you want to come to UVa?
Christensen: It’s two hours away from home so the location is good. It is an awesome school with great academics. You could not have a better combination with swimming. I’m the oldest in my family so I never really looked at colleges and didn’t know anything about UVa until I came here for a summer camp with Mark. It was my junior year of high school and my first time away from home. I just loved it here and met a lot of really great people, and I really liked Mark. A couple of months later I came on my recruiting trip. It was funny because my mom said, You’re going to go to UVa and you’re going to like it.’ I ended up loving it. She was right.
Question: What is your favorite Coach Bernardino quote or saying?
Christensen: What is special for the women’s team is when he says, Mean, gnarly, nasty, not nice.’ We had that as an ACC poster last year. It’s just a funny quote but also it encompasses the competitive spirit that Mark wants us to have.
Question: What has been the highlight of your swimming experiences thus far?
Christensen: If I had to cut it off right now I would have to say ACCs last year. We spent the whole year working towards a goal and seeing it happen day-by-day at ACCs was amazing. We really came together as a team. We had a lot of fun. Mark really stressed to us to have fun at this meet. To swim our hearts out for our team. It was the best experience I’ve had.
Question: What are the goals this year?
Christensen: We want to create a new team dynamic. We lost a few people but we also gained a lot. We have done a great job of figuring out who we are as a team so far. We want to keep our training up. We all want to get stronger in the weight room. We have a great strength coach now and we are all focused on getting stronger and training well and performing well.
Question: What are you majoring in?
Christensen: I am in the BAMT program in the Curry School, which means bachelor’s of arts and master’s in teaching. So I am doing a bachelor’s degree in psychology with elementary education. I am hoping to graduate in four-and-a-half years with both those degrees and then go on to teach third or fourth grade.
Question: What about teaching sparks your interest?
Christensen: I just really love kids. I have worked with a lot of kids in camps and teaching swim lessons. UVa has a great field experience program where you go into the local schools. I just love it and hope I find enjoyment in it as a career.
Question: What was been your favorite class?
Christensen: It was a class my first-year, in the spring. It was totally out of my reach. It was a bio 300-level animal behavior class. We watched movies every Friday and I had a great professor and a great TA. It was a lot of fun. It was definitely the hardest class though. We learned mostly about the behavior of animals in the wild and in captivity.
Question: What is your favorite spot on Grounds?
Christensen: I love exploring UVa. Charlottesville is such a great town. I love the downtown mall, the trees and the mountains. On Grounds, I would have to say the UVa Gardens. I love going there to read, walk around or each lunch. My friends and I take little photo shoots there during the changing of the leaves or in the spring. It’s such a beautiful place.