WSN: Connor Vincent is a four-year team member of NYU’s Men’s Swimming & Diving team. He’s currently ranked fifth in the nation in D-III while studying business with a concentration in economics and sustainable business. Last season, he was NCAA All-American in two events and NCAA Honorable Mention All-American in another.
He was UAA Winter All-Academic and CSCAA Scholar All-American. WSN sat down with Connor to talk about this season and his swimming career.
Hi Connor, thank you for joining me. How long have you been swimming?
Vincent: I’ve been swimming since about third grade. I joined my first club team, which was local Empire Swimming, upon my parents request and have stayed consistently swimming ever since.
WSN: You’ve had a super successful career here at NYU. What does this team and the coaching staff mean to you?
Vincent: Uh, it means everything. I mean, it’s been such a big part of my life since I came to NYU. I had no idea how receptive the team and the coaching staff would be. I, I feel super lucky that I’ve developed such a close relationship with our head coach, Trevor Miele, and our assistant coaches as well. And the team has really been a family for me since I came to campus. I was super scared to go to school in the city, join a new team, but it was there was nothing to be scared about because everyone was so accepting, uh, right away.
WSN: What was the recruiting process like? Did you know you were going to join before you committed to the school?
Vincent: Yeah. So, I started getting recruited in August of my junior year of high school. I started talking to Trevor, and since it was Covid, I wasn’t able to do a campus visit. I did my own with my parents, and I never actually got to see the pool or meet with Trevor, but I was emailing with him during Zoom meetings and getting to know him pretty well. And, at the end of August, he asked, he told me I had a spot on the team if I’d like to. And I told him that I would apply ED 1. Luckily, I got in. And, you know, the rest is history there.
WSN: That’s awesome. It must have been nice to have a kind of family coming into it.Do you have any favorite, favorite events that you swim?
Vincent: Yeah, I have an unfortunately grueling event lineup usually, doing the mile and the 500. Uh, but I do love the 500. It’s the perfect mix for me. I also do the 200 freestyle and for me, it goes by the fastest. It’s the most — the least — stressful going into so always love that.
WSN: Why is that?
Vincent: It’s always on the first day. So it’s the first event I do at every big meet. And, um, yeah, I mean, it’s just like, you feel fresh, you feel good going into it. And for me, it’s easy to break up. I break it up by 100. I have had the same plan going into the 500 since high school, where I just build the first half and then see how much I have left at the end. And yeah, it’s always fun. There’s always a good race at the end as well, which is always good to look forward to.
WSN: UAA championships are coming up in the middle of February and then NCAA after that. Do you have any personal goals going into these meets?
Vincent: Yeah, I mean, uh, for starters, it would just be to win my events. I mean, uh, that’s always the biggest goal going in. It’s, I think UAA is likely my favorite meet of the year. NCAA is great as well, but, we’re going to Emory in Atlanta this year, and they have a great facility, massive attendance usually, mostly Emory fans, but it gets, uh, pretty loud. And the atmosphere is just amazing, so it always feels great to win. Everyone gets so silent for the final, and then when it finishes, everyone’s cheering, which is just amazing. And then, as well for the team, we have a great shot to win the meet this year. And I think we have — we just released our roster that’s going to be going yesterday. And I think that we are so well positioned to have a great meet. Everyone’s been working so hard. So I had to see what happens.
WSN: When you’re in the pool in the middle of an event, what’s going through your head?
Vincent: Um, for an event like the mile, it’s usually bad to think a lot during the entire race. You might make yourself panic a little bit or change your pace up. So usually I like to just clear my head. If I’d like to, I may repeat a song over and over again. Uh, [it] might be a little annoying at times, so I try and avoid that. But, yeah, towards the end of the race, I try and look around, um, or if I’m really hurt and bad, I just tell myself to, like, count down the laps and finish. But, usually, usually I like to keep my head clear, just so I don’t, um, freak myself out at all or anything.
WSN: Do you have any strategies to clear your head before you dive in?
Vincent: Yeah, um, I usually just tell myself to trust my training. I think our practice schedule sets us up for success for all of our races. And I tell myself I put the work into the front half, so it’ll come back to help me later on.
WSN: Your senior day celebration was a little over a week ago, with your last dual meet this weekend. How are you feeling nearing the end of your collegiate career?
Vincent: It kind of sprung up on me, um, this past weekend, and it was just nice to see, like, myself and, uh, we had six total guys, finish off the four years for swimming. I think we started with 20, so I think it really, it felt great. I think it was a testament to how hard all of us have worked, all the senior class. It’s been a long four years. Our freshman year was definitely challenging with, uh, the pandemic still restricting some things we could do on campus, and training has just been grueling. I think we’re all, uh, beaten up and tired quite a bit, but it did feel great. I mean, I’ve done so many dual meets in my life and, uh, this being the last one felt like a great accomplishment to finally get there.
WSN: Do you have any plans for after graduation?
Vincent: Uh, yeah. So, the goal is definitely to stay in the city. I am currently doing recruiting for banking and sales and trading. And the process has been going well. I have one job offer from Bank of America and I’m still doing my best to see what else is out there. Meet as many people as I can, but definitely hoping to stay in New York City. And maybe go to some meets while I’m still here.
Contact Sidney Snider at [email protected].
