Villanova’s swimming and diving program is a powerhouse. There are levels to the success

Villanova swimming and diving coach Rick Simpson has a simple recruiting tactic. During campus visits, instead of delivering his pitch from behind his desk, Simpson moves his chair in front and points it at a row of chairs against the wall, where the recruit’s family sits. This way, as they listen to Simpson, they can’t ignore what sits behind him: an entire table covered in Big East championship trophies.

“I start to use the phrases ‘championship’ and ‘winning tradition.’ As I’m saying it, it’s being backed up by some visual cues as well,” Simpson said, smiling. “A little strategy there.”

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Simpson and his fellow coaches, associate head coach Laura McGlaughlin and head diving coach Todd Michael, have built a swimming dynasty at Villanova. The women’s swimming and diving program has reeled off 11 consecutive Big East titles, the most recent coming in early March in Indianapolis.

The Wildcats have become a powerhouse — and they know it.

Streaks don’t reach double digits by luck or having the best swimmers. Because of this, The Inquirer sought to find the “secret sauce” behind Villanova’s dynasty.

Michael is one of the first to bring up something Villanova does better than anyone else. Simpson and McGlaughlin, he says, are really good at strategizing where Villanova can score points and which swimmers should swim certain races. Swimming utilizes a points system, allocating points to each race, and based on typical times, both of your team and your opponents, coaches can maximize opportunities to score.

“They’re good at that,” Michael said. “That’s why they’re winning.”

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There’s some truth in that, but it’s not that simple. If it was, everyone would do it — and to an extent, everyone does. Villanova plays into this by recruiting swimmers who can swim multiple events. As an example of this, McGlaughlin points to program great Kelly Montesi, who won the 200 backstroke the first year she swam it at the Big East championship.

But Montesi was an anomaly, a swimmer who was the Big East champion in a whopping 24 events over four years and the first Wildcat in 10 years to swim at the NCAA championships. Villanova doesn’t have multiple Kelly Montesis. So how does the program keep winning?

Though not everyone wins 24 championships, Villanova has been successful at identifying difference-makers throughout Simpson’s 24-year tenure. This comes in part from Simpson’s recruiting pitch: both from the backdrop and the people he recruits.

One of Simpson’s favorite days to host recruits is Villanova’s Day of Service, an annual event in which student groups volunteer at sites in the Philadelphia area. “If you’ve got a kid who’s into community service, [the] kid’s probably going to be pretty into the team concept,” Simpson said.

Students often pick Villanova when they’re looking for a school with a religious background, service ideals, and strong academics. Those who want to swim at Villanova tend to be highly motivated in all things, not just in the pool. These high achievers want to get involved in all ways, including service.

This gets to the core of how Villanova has won 11 consecutive Big East championships, but it leads to an admittedly broad answer. As with all winning programs, Villanova’s not-so secret is culture.

The Wildcats began their streak in 2014, the first year of the new Big East. (They finished fifth in 2013, behind Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers.) They’ve dominated since, and they know that there’s a “target on our back,” as sophomore Arabella Lee puts it. However, they also ensure they don’t rely on that as motivation.

“One thing that we always say is we can’t walk into each Big East expecting that we’re just going to win another one because we won the last one,” senior Audrey Pastorek said. “I think no matter what, we still come in each day, work hard, put in as much work as possible thinking that this could be the year that maybe we don’t win. … It’s not a given that we’re going to win.”

Throughout numerous interviews, the program never seemed to be doing anything unusual. There are no groundbreaking techniques, team traditions, world-class facilities, or anything that would explain why the Wildcats have won so many consecutive league championships.

The main tradition is that the coaching staff, in dry clothes, jumps into the pool with the team after they’ve won the Big East title. If you’re wondering, yes, there have been years where Villanova is mathematically guaranteed to win before the final day starts, allowing Simpson to pack a change. Otherwise, he’s too superstitious.

Then the swimmers start mentioning retreats. Two to three times a year, the women’s swim team gathers in a classroom or meeting room with the entire team and David Walsh, Villanova’s campus minister for sports and spirituality. It’s a team-building exercise, where teammates participate in affirmation circles, discussing their purpose or “Why,” and other similar activities for a few hours.

Walsh does this with several Villanova teams but started with the women’s swim program in 2016. The timing varies slightly, with one exception: The team always meets right before the Big East championship meet. Swimmers leave feeling confident, validated, and closer to one another.

While Walsh comes from a religious background and Villanova is a Catholic school, the retreats aren’t religious. He said his goal going into the retreats is to give athletes “an opportunity to step back from the busyness that is the everyday life of the student-athlete.”

Senior Molly Benson remembers an example from her sophomore year. She was talking to then-senior Abbey Berloco and admitted she was nervous about the upcoming meet. Berloco responded that she was nervous too, but she knew Benson was going to do well. With newfound confidence courtesy of her teammate, Benson went on to score for Villanova in three events.

A recent retreat included letters from previous Villanova swimmers, from both previous Big East champions and swimmers from before the streak. Their letters were filled with wisdom.

“[It showed] this whole thing is bigger than just our current team,” Lee said. “It goes back a lot of years. Doing it for everyone just motivates our team more.”

So is that the answer? Retreats are the secret to Villanova’s success, and if they were taken away, their dynasty would end?

Not quite. When asked what Villanova needs to do to win the Big East next year, the retreats were mentioned, but they were never the No. 1 priority.

The one constant? Culture.

“Our swim team’s like a family,” senior Maggie Kleinsmith said. “I think that’s the best part about it. If we ever lose that, we’re going to lose Big East. That’s what truly keeps us going.”