Riding the Green Wave

When Emily Needham begins college in August, she will be an integral part of the new foundation for the women's swimming and diving program at Tulane University in New Orleans. In fact, she was the first piece of the recruiting puzzle.

"She was my first recruit and my first commitment," said Tulane head coach Lena Guarriello. "Once I got to know her, she seemed like an awesome young lady, well-rounded: good academically, great personality and really outgoing."

There are no upperclassmen so she'll be one of 12 to 14 freshmen on the new look Green Wave swim team. The squad will have a diverse look as recruits hail from Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Texas and California.

"From the beginning, I saw her as a good leader for the type of program that we're building," maintained Guarriello. "She was a sure thing from the start and that was just reinforced when she came down here."

A 17-year-old from Manchester, Needham recently committed to the Green Wave by signing a national letter of intent. A member of Conference USA, Tulane's aquatics program was suspended after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 but will restart in 2009 under the former assistant and now head coach Guarriello.

This moment has been a long time coming for Needham too. She's been working towards this goal since the beginning of high school.

"I started getting serious in ninth grade," Needham said, "when I went to the winter nationals. I had good enough times my freshman year to think about Division 3 colleges and from there, I was motivated to get faster. My ultimate goal was to swim Division 1 and I always wanted to go to school in the South."

She's been swimming since she was 8 years old at the Sterling Center YMCA in Beverly and the Cape Ann YMCA in Gloucester. Needham doesn't compete for Manchester Essex high school because she spends a majority of her time in the pool with the North Shore Sharks.

"My coach Jon Ogden at the YMCA really helped me with my technique," Needham said. "They pushed me to the next level and dropped my time so I have the opportunity to swim at Tulane."

Her schedule with the Sharks is jam-packed as they swim year-round, save for two months at the end of August. The team practices eight times (including two doubles sessions) a week with Sundays off. Winter nationals and summer nationals are their biggest events of the year. Being a part of those meets allowed Needham to gain confidence to see that she could hold her own against some of the top swimmers in the country.

"The high level of competitions are great," Needham says. "The girl from Rhode Island in the Olympics (Elizabeth Beisel) has been at events I was in. It's great to see Olympians or Olympic trials qualifiers, kids that are going to the University of Texas, it's fun to watch them swim."

After narrowing her college search down to her final two choices of Dartmouth College and Tulane, Needham was ultimately swayed by her official visit to Tulane's campus.

"I really loved the school and met a lot of kids that I seemed to fit in with," Needham said. "Plus, they swim in a competitive conference."

One of the premier academic instituions in the South, Tulane University is well-respected around the country.

"We have plenty of academic goals (for the team)," explained Guarriello. "The outstanding reputation of Tulane is something that allows us to recruit the type of student-athletes that we want."

The Green Wave were conference champions in 2004. Since Katrina, Tulane's athletic program has slowly returned to full strength. One by one, mens and womens sports have returned each season based on Title IX's gender restrictions.

Needham hopes to major in finance and looks forward to getting involved in community service around New Orleans, which is still rebuilding in a big way.

"There are a lot of opportunities to do community service at Tulane, you actually have to do it to graduate," Needham said, "I'm looking forward to helping out with the community. It is one of the reasons I wanted to go there. New Orleans is such a unique place, it's totally different from New England."

Worldwide, it was a banner summer for swimming as Michael Phelps and the Beijing Olympics put the spotlight squarely on the world's top performers.

Americans Aaron Peirsol, who specializes in backstroke events and Ryan Lochte (IM, backstroke and fly) are two of Needham's favorite swimmers to watch. Needham's preferred events are the 200 butterfly and 100 butterfly.

"I get stressed out before my races because I care about them so much," Needham said. "Peirsol is the type that gets his suit on a minute before he has to be in the water. He's so relaxed. I also like watching Lochte's turns."

Guarriello realizes that her program won't be a powerhouse overnight and that's fine. "I'm not looking to build a program in one year. It's a small team to begin with so I don't feel the need to fill it with warm bodies. I'm looking for girls that want to improve from year to year, that love swimming and are not just looking for a scholarship."

Given her timing and the circumstances surrounding the city of New Orleans, it's safe to say that the next four years for Emily Needham at Tulane will be quite memorable.

Photos

Emily Needham, a senior at Manchester Essex High School, has signed a letter of intent to swim at Tulane University next fall. Gloucester Daily Times

Emily Needham, a senior at Manchester Essex High School, is going to swim at Tulane University next fall. Gloucester Daily Times