Feb. 16, 2008
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Organ is in his second season of heading Vanderbilt’s swimming and diving program. Since his appointment, Organ has been responsible for rebuilding the Commodores’ swimming and diving program, which had been disbanded in 1990.
How difficult of a challenge has it been to build a program and compete in the SEC?
I don’t think it is more difficult than I thought. It is not any big shock to see how high the level of competition is in the conference. You just have to take it one year at a time, and you have to take little steps. We still have to have the expectation that we are going to be competitive and that we are going to do our best. Each year, hopefully, that gets higher and higher.
On how much of a challenge recruiting has been with limited scholarships?
There are different hurdles that we have academically and financially that probably a lot of schools don’t have. On the same token, this is a top-20 university that we are attracting student-athletes to, so that is a huge factor. People see that we are in the SEC and we are trying to build a program, and I think people have been very receptive to that.
Did you always know that you wanted to be a coach?
I had no clue what I was going to do (in college). It was a whole new world. I grew up thinking I was going to be a hockey player. I tried out swimming a little late in the game, and I ended up going to college and swimming. The No. 1 thing was to finish my degree and go from there. That first year of coaching, I liked it so much that I just kept on doing it.
You played hockey as a youth?
I played hockey growing up until I was 16. At 16, I started swimming for the first time and I played hockey. I was 17 when I decided to swim fulltime. It was a huge change to go from hockey to swimming.
What is the best advice a coach ever gave you?
“Just have fun and don’t sweat the small stuff.” – Mike Stromberg, former swimming coach at North Dakota.
