Drew Johansen’s Divers “Prepared to Challenge the World”

Drew Johansen deflects. It’s what the best coaches do, and you’d better believe this Indiana University veteran is one of the best.

You don’t become an Olympic head coach for the third time by fluke.

Johansen has thrived as the Hoosiers’ diving coach since 2013. Before that, it was Duke, as well as Illinois State and Florida International. He coached Team USA diving in the 2012 Olympics in London, then Rio in 2016, and will again in Tokyo starting July 23.

What’s the secret to his success?

The divers, he says without hesitation.

“I’m here because of their performances.”

In London, Johansen’s divers won one goal, one silver and two bronze medals, the best showing by the U.S. since 1988 in Seoul. His divers won two silvers and a bronze in Rio.

All that was done against China’s diving juggernaut.

He had his divers prepared then. He will again.

“We have a nice mix of experience and medalists, with some of the new talent that will take us through Tokyo and into Paris (site of the 2024 Olympics),” Johansen says via recent Zoom availability. “We’re real excited.”

Excitement comes from Jessica Parratto and Delaney Schnell in 10-meter platform synchro. They won last month’s U.S. Trials in Indianapolis.

Parratto, a former Hoosier standout, is competing in her second Olympics. In Rio she placed seventh in platform synchro and 10th in individual platform. This is Schnell’s first Olympics.

“They are poised to challenge anybody in the world,” Johansen says.

Excitement also comes from current Hoosier Andrew Capobianco, a junior and a two-time NCAA champ, and former Hoosier Mike Hixon (a silver medalist in 2016). They make up IU’s 3-meter platform synchro team.

Johansen says he recognized Capobianco’s elite potential, “The first day I met him.”

That was nearly a decade ago.

Johansen was coaching at Duke at the time. Capobianco was 12 or 13 years old and attending a Duke camp.

Johansen soon moved to Indiana, and eventually convinced Capobianco to join him.

“It turned out to be the right thing,” Johansen says. “I got to coach here as he came into his prime. It’s a story of perseverance. We were meant to be together.”

A pause.

“We’re feeling good heading into Tokyo,” he adds.

No one feels better than Parratto, who comes from a diving family.

Her father, Mike, is a nationally renowned swim coach who has guided four-time Olympian Jenny Thompson as well as world champion Regan Smith. Her mother, Amy, is a former All-American diver.

Jessica says sharing the family success has been “super special,” especially getting to see her father in action.

“I’ve been along his journey with him, the years of experience he’s had as a coach.”

Previous Olympic experience could give Parratto an edge in Tokyo, especially given the year-long pandemic delay.

“The way I’ve prepared has been different. This has been a grind. You have to expect the unexpected.

“The last few months, I’ve been a lot more confident. I’m ready to go. To know it’s going to happen has been great.

“The first time around, you don’t know what to expect. Now you have that expectation. There’s a little more pressure, but you have more confidence.”

 

*****

Glory days may pass you by in the wink of a young girl’s eye, as Bruce Springsteen once famously sang, but not for Indiana’s swimming-and-diving juggernaut.

A program that rocked the world in the 1960s and ‘70s under legendary coaches Doc Councilman and Hobie Billingsley, and with Olympic champions such as Mark Spitz and Gary Hall, still rocks.

See the guidance of Johansen and swim coach Ray Looze (an Olympic assistant coach for the second time) as Exhibit No. 1.

See swimmer Lilly King and her two Olympic gold medals from Rio as Exhibit No. 2.

See the 69 Olympic swimming and diving medals Hoosiers have won as Exhibit No. 3.

“We take great pride in Indiana swimming and diving,” Looze says. “We hope to add to that (medal) total (in Tokyo).”

The Hoosiers remain a swimming-and-diving powerhouse of international renown. Current and former Hoosier standouts on this year’s U.S. Olympic team are King and fellow swimmers Blake Pieroni, Michael Brinegar, Annie Lazor and Zach Apple, plus divers Parratto, Capebianco and Hixon.

Then there are Hoosiers competing for other nations – Tomer Frankel (Israel), Bailey Andison (Canada), Vini Lanza (Brazil) and Marwan Elkamash (Egypt).

Add the coaching tandem of Johansen and Looze, and you have unprecedented Cream ‘n Crimson Olympic opportunity.

“I’m humbled and grateful,” Looze says, “that we have really good coaches here and awesome swimmers. That’s what makes it possible.”

A strong U.S. Trials showing was just the start.

“I don’t have any satisfaction yet,” Looze adds, “because we still have the big one to go. That’s Tokyo.

“We’re going to be judged by what we do at the Games.”

*****

The pandemic forced Olympic athletes into unprecedented uncertainty. The Olympics were canceled in 2020, and there was no assurance it wouldn’t happen again this year.

Even now, with Covid-19 rates rising in Tokyo, there remains a strong push to cancel the Olympics again.

Still, the Games are set to go on.

For most athletics, especially Olympic athletes, whose competitive time windows are small, delays can destroy dreams.

It created extra stress leading into the Games. Johansen calls it a “What-If” scenario.

“What if Covid cancels this? What if I get Covid? We need to wake up every day and think, What if that happens? And then prepare with that. They did that for 14 months.

“The resilience is unbelievable.”

When facilities shut down last summer, the Hoosiers improvised. They swam in Bloomington ponds (battling turtles, snakes and other creatures), dived in quarries and took advantage of Seymour’s impressive outdoor pool. They jumped on trampolines to practice diving flips.

They found a way.

“Our kids are so tough,” Looze says. “They went all over the place — ponds, driving an hour and fifteen minutes to Seymour. I like the fact we’re already battle tested with inconvenience.”

Adds Johansen: “We would find any puddle that was deep enough to jump into. The city of Seymour was fantastic in letting us use that fantastic pool they have.

“We were bouncing on trampolines in backyards and doing anything we could to stay sane during that extreme shutdown. Seymour is a big part of our Olympic story.”

As Parratto puts it, “It was nice to get the team together. It was outside and sunny and beautiful. To have the opportunity to do that, thank you, Seymour.”

If you think the Olympic Games are pressure packed, Looze adds, you should have been at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

“This is a big step for the U.S. kids. It’s probably the hardest one. There is much more stress at the U.S. Trials than at the Games.”

*****

King, a favorite in the 100- and 200-meter breaststrokes, is positioned to compete in a pair of relays — the mixed medley and the women’s medley. The U.S. is favored in both.

“Relays are the best part,” King says. “Having the medley relay be the last event is fun. It’s always an honor to be swimming for USA, especially in a relay.”

One glitch — the relay lineups haven’t been announced. King helped the U.S. win gold in the women’s 400-meter medley in Rio.

“We’ll see how that mixed medley turns out,” she says. “I have no idea who they will put on it. I don’t think anyone does. I would be honored to be on it. I’m looking forward to some fast racing.

“Athletes don’t have a say on the relay (lineups). That’s why we have coaches on staff. I know Ray (Looze) will fight like hell for me. I just have to put up a good time in the 100, and see what happens.”

Teammate and friend Annie Lazor, who will compete in the 200-meter breaststroke in Tokyo, just missed qualifying for the 100 breaststroke. She finished third in the Trials. Only the top two advanced.

“Welcome to the US Olympic team,” King says. “We have several events where that is the case. In the 100 breaststroke, we had four of the top six (swimmers) in the world. A lot of fast people are not going to the Olympics.

“The 200 is definitely her strength. Being able to focus on that will be great. I know she would have loved to compete in the 100. She’s a gold medal contender in the 200.”

*****

The Olympics are normally a social extravaganza where some of the best athletes on the planet gather to compete and meet.

Not this year.

Tokyo officials are doing everything they can to ensure the Games are held in their entirety without causing a super-spreader Covid-19 event of disastrous consequences.

Japan is in lock-down mode. A state of emergency has been declared in Tokyo banning fans from attending any event. The ban was made by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers.

Athletes are limited to the Olympic Village, and they have 48 hours after their final event to return to their home countries.

“My last competition will be Aug. 4 if I make the finals,” Capobianco says. “I’ll have to come back Aug. 5. I won’t be able to go to the closing ceremonies, but I’m just excited to go and compete and experience it all.”

The same restrictions apply to coaches and everyone affiliated with the games.

 

“I’d say everybody we’re bringing, every athlete I know of, is vaccinated, which is good,” Looze says.

“You’re going to have your cell phone in Japan, and if you walk within six feet of somebody who is positive (for Covid-19), and they triangulate those phones, you’re gone.

“I feel good about that part of the equation. Japan, once we get to Tokyo, that’s going to be rough. They are draconically locked down.”

Given what IU athletes already have endured to reach this point, they’ll handle it.