University of North Texas Athletics
To Roth, It's About the People
1/15/2020 12:00:00 PM | Swimming and Diving
DENTON – Success is often determined by the type of people a person surrounds them self with. For North Texas swimming and diving coach Brittany Roth, her success as a coach comes from how she views those in and around her program. Especially the senior class she will celebrate on Friday afternoon, the first class she has seen all the way through since their freshman season.
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That class size? Two.
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When Roth was given the full-time keys to the North Texas swimming and diving program on April 11, 2017 she inherited a team that had posted an 14-20 dual record since joining Conference USA in 2013 and that had never finished higher than fourth place at the Conference Championship meet, also included in the package was a group of seven wide-eyed freshmen.
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Those seven freshmen would dwindle down to the current duo throughout the years and now two and a half years since Roth was given the official title, those two seniors have seen a program completely turn around. During Roth's tenure, the Mean Green have posted a .611 dual winning percentage including no dual losses at home, recorded their highest Conference USA Championship finish while also breaking ten school records.
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But if you were to ask Roth the biggest success she has seen from her two seniors and team as a whole, it has nothing to do with results but all about growth.
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"The growth of who they are as people has probably been the coolest thing to be a part of," Roth said. "To watch them come in as freshmen trying to get a grip on what the new training style, team and general college competitive atmosphere is like, then to see them transition year after year into positions of leadership, to see them really take that into their hands and be good models and good examples of that has been the best part for me as a coach."
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Growth has to start somewhere and for most coaches it starts with a bulletin board list of goals that they set for their charges, but Roth has left that responsibility to those who actually get in the water.
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"I don't set the goals for the team," Roth said. "I don't set and tell them what they should be achieving, I make that a conversation the team has amongst each other and what's important to them. Once their goals are set, I just hold them accountable."
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While the normal practice playlist consisting of early 2010s pop and rap music and Taylor Swift songs will not be over the speaker on Friday, the same energetic Roth will be on deck as the Mean Green close out their 2019-2020 home slate against the Cardinals of Incarnate Word. When the second break begins and North Texas honors Jowita Sienczyk and Gabryella Silva, Roth will have seen her first full class through. While the first class Roth recruited will have their time in the light next year, Friday night is all about the two who helped start it all alongside their energy-filled coach who will patrol the home deck during a dual for the sixth time as the full-time Head Coach. Two and a half years flies by and Roth only hopes to continue the success into the bright future for Mean Green swimming and diving.
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That class size? Two.
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When Roth was given the full-time keys to the North Texas swimming and diving program on April 11, 2017 she inherited a team that had posted an 14-20 dual record since joining Conference USA in 2013 and that had never finished higher than fourth place at the Conference Championship meet, also included in the package was a group of seven wide-eyed freshmen.
Â
Those seven freshmen would dwindle down to the current duo throughout the years and now two and a half years since Roth was given the official title, those two seniors have seen a program completely turn around. During Roth's tenure, the Mean Green have posted a .611 dual winning percentage including no dual losses at home, recorded their highest Conference USA Championship finish while also breaking ten school records.
Â
But if you were to ask Roth the biggest success she has seen from her two seniors and team as a whole, it has nothing to do with results but all about growth.
Â
"The growth of who they are as people has probably been the coolest thing to be a part of," Roth said. "To watch them come in as freshmen trying to get a grip on what the new training style, team and general college competitive atmosphere is like, then to see them transition year after year into positions of leadership, to see them really take that into their hands and be good models and good examples of that has been the best part for me as a coach."
Â
Growth has to start somewhere and for most coaches it starts with a bulletin board list of goals that they set for their charges, but Roth has left that responsibility to those who actually get in the water.
Â
"I don't set the goals for the team," Roth said. "I don't set and tell them what they should be achieving, I make that a conversation the team has amongst each other and what's important to them. Once their goals are set, I just hold them accountable."
Â
While the normal practice playlist consisting of early 2010s pop and rap music and Taylor Swift songs will not be over the speaker on Friday, the same energetic Roth will be on deck as the Mean Green close out their 2019-2020 home slate against the Cardinals of Incarnate Word. When the second break begins and North Texas honors Jowita Sienczyk and Gabryella Silva, Roth will have seen her first full class through. While the first class Roth recruited will have their time in the light next year, Friday night is all about the two who helped start it all alongside their energy-filled coach who will patrol the home deck during a dual for the sixth time as the full-time Head Coach. Two and a half years flies by and Roth only hopes to continue the success into the bright future for Mean Green swimming and diving.
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