NCAA SWIMMER QUALIFIER PROFILE: JIM DABNEY

March 8, 2007

In preparation for the NCAA Swimming Championships, Utsports.com will publish several profiles to spotlight eight Tennessee swimmers who qualified for the 2007 NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. Each day a new release will focus on a new swimmer to honor his accomplishments, to peer into the personality of a UT swimmer and to learn about his preparatory thoughts on the championships that will be held March 15-17. The swimmers will be highlighted in the following order: Brad Boswell, Andrew Engle, Octavio Alesi, Jim Dabney, Nolan Morrell, Barry Murphy, Jeff Sudbury and Michael Wolfe. Today's profile focuses on sophomore Jim Dabney.

Jim Dabney - who will participate in the 800 freestyle relay next week at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. - started out his athletic life playing baseball when he was six years-old. He was a third-basemen and pitcher. However, through the influence of an older sister, Dabney took on swimming and continued to excel through out his youth.

"I played baseball until I was 10. And my sister swam at the collegiate level at Virginia Tech. She really got me into it; so I started swimming and playing baseball at the same time. When I was 12 or 13 years-old, I had to make a choice between baseball and swimming. That's when I really got serious about swimming."

High school swimming struggled in the state of North Carolina, but Dabney had a club team and several friends with whom he could enjoy the sport.

"High school swimming in North Carolina isn't really that big. I swam on a club team with 6 or 7 friends but they all went to different high schools. So, when high school meets rolled around, they were very competitive and sort of like practices with the club team. It was a lot of fun.

This high school All-America came out of secondary school considering Kentucky, South Carolina, Florida St., North Carolina and Tennessee.

"This is definitely the biggest school I looked at when I came to the university level compared to all the other colleges I thought about attending," Dabney said. "They have done a great job with me. I feel like I am reaching my potential moreso than I would at any other place."

The coaching apparently had a big impact on Dabney's decision.

"UT's coaching makes it superior to other schools," Dabney said. "They know exactly what they are doing every day. When JT, Joe or Doug tells me to do anything, I follow to a 'T' whatever they say, and it has really been working for me."

Coach Trembley and company pushed Dabney to new heights that he never imagined he could reach.

"I thought in high school that I had reached my full swimming potential cause I never thought I would swim in college. But when I got here at UT, I felt like I reached a new plateau and keep getting higher and higher."

The coaching staff has not been the only supporter in Dabney's life. He had a very loving family to encourage him along the way.

"This year, especially, I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for my family. My parents and my sister, they've been for me pound for pound. I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for them. I don't know how I could have made it without them. My sister and I were very close. She's always there for me to talk to. I talk to her once or twice a week and I do the same with my parents. My dad is my biggest fan by far. He's always waving the flag."

At the University of Tennessee, Dabney expressed gratitude for his coaches, family and teammates. His teammates, he mentioned, share a great chemistry and attend different UT athletic events as a team. It's with that same team that Dabney will have to face his toughest challenge in his career.

"The NCAAs is the biggest meet of my life," Dabney said. "I've never been there before so I'm really excited. I'm slightly nervous but more excited than nervous. I'm not too worried though. We had SECs a few weeks ago before this, and that was the biggest meet of my life because I had never been put on the SEC team."

A tough meet indeed faces Dabney and his teammates, but one cannot help to think that Dabney loves every minute of the pressure of such swim events.

"I'm just living for the moment," Dabney said. "I'm living the dream - swimming and going to college."

The 2007 NCAA Championships, again, are held March 15-17 in Minneapolis, Minn. The next profile will feature sophomore Nolan Morrell.