BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer
Tim Conway
Tim Conway was the star swimmer at Brick Memorial a year ago, but now finds himself as one of many fish in a big pond at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
"I don’t think I did as well as I could have. I’m not sure why," said Conway. "The first year in college is a learning year. People don’t say much where you should be, so then you just get used to training."
Conway set nine records at Brick Memorial, winning both sprint freestyle events to earn the Outstanding Swimmer award at the Ocean County championships last winter. Conway was tied for first in the 50 meters and a close second in the 100 meters in the Shore Conference championships. Glory certainly is tougher to achieve swimming at a higher level however.
It’s not the physical side that needs the most attention from Conway, but the mental side, he said.
"I need to work on my confidence," said Conway. "Brad Green has no doubt in his mind he’s going to win before an event. I need to do that. I’m finally getting to realize the need to be confident. I did not realize before this year how mental the sport is."
Green swam the same events as Conway, the sprint freestyles and the backstroke.
Conway also could not train like he wanted to before heading to the college last fall because he broke his wrist playing basketball last summer and was held back from serious training in swimming for three months.
And then there was the travel schedule that Conway said "took a toll on us." Conway and his teammates did winter training during Christmas break at Key Largo in Florida. In another instance during the season, the team traveled to East Carolina University for a meet, took the bus back afterward and hosted a dual meet the next day.
But Conway still made his contributions competing under a financial aid package at UMBC, swimming his best at the end of the season when the team won the America East Championships in its first year in that conference after competing in the Northeast Conference previously. Conway finished fifth in the backstroke, seventh in the 50-yard freestyle in a personal best :21.64 and 15th in the 200 free. He also swam a personal best :24.7 in the 50-yard backstroke on the 200-yard freestyle relay that finished second to the University of Maine.
"I could not ask for better," said Conway. "That was the best meet ever. The team came together incredibly. We had to win our last relay, and we did. You could not ask for anything better in the conference championships."
UMBC was 12-1 in dual meets, losing by only one point to Navy where he swam on the second-place 400 free relay. Conway finished second in the 100-yard backstroke — the only event of which he did not say he was "happy" with his performance during the season — in a dual meet against Old Dominion. He also swam on the winning medley relay in that event. Conway also was second in the 50 free and third in the 200-yard freestyle, one of the rare times the school has competed in that event, against Mary Washington.
He also had a bunch of third-place finishes, including in the 50 free in dual meets against American and against Marist, and in a triangular meet with George Washington and William & Mary, and was third in the backstroke and in the 50 free in a dual meet against Binghamton.
Now he is preparing to fill in the void left by the graduating Green.
"I have to step up and fill Brad’s shoes," said Conway. "At least I’ll be able to train this year."
Conway said he hopes to be able to train with the Ocean County YMCA when he returns for summer break, and looks forward to a schedule next season that includes Rider and Seton Hall universities from his New Jersey home state.