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Five Questions with Connecticut's Nick Llewellyn
NEW LONDON, Conn. --Nick Llewellyn () recently sat down with the Connecticut College Sports Information Office to discuss his experiences as part of the Camels' water polo program and his success this season.
Q: This has been a great for you offensively. You have netted a team-high 35 goals in your senior season. What has been the key to your success at the offensive end of the pool?
NL: I attribute my
success at the offensive end of the pool to game awareness,
realizing when there are opportunities to capitalize on and finding
weaknesses in the defense.
Q: You are the only senior on this club. Do the younger
players approach you for advice or do you lead more by example in
the pool?
NL: As the only
senior and one of the more experienced members of the team, I think
that it is only natural that younger players approach me for advice
and I offer pointers wherever I see room for improvement. However,
I think that most of the leadership is done in the pool during
practice, whether it´s just giving advice or telling someone
when they did something wrong as well as showing them the right way
to do things, being physical and focused.
Q: Your teammate Connor Matzinger has a nifty looking
behind the back shot. Do you have an approach that you take when
you're trying to score?
NL: My approach
involves timing and ball control. As an attacker, I have to be able
to protect the ball. While I´m looking around to see the
other possibilities for passes to my teammates, I scan where the
goalie is and aim for that upper corner. I rely on speed but mostly
placement in my shots.
Q: Your coach JJ Addison brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm
into the pool. It must be rewarding to play for a guy who is so
committed to his sport?
NL: JJ brings tons of energy to practice and
games. He gets in with us and does the workouts on occasion and I
think that´s a big part of why the team has so much respect
for him, he is not just yelling from the side. JJ has helped me
over the years in building my character and pushed me to perform at
a high level both athletically and academically.
Q: What has been the most part of your experience here as
a student-athlete?
NL: The best part of my experience as a student
athlete has been the close relationships with my teammates that you
can only get from playing, traveling, and logging long hard
workouts. The level of competitiveness in the games is something I
am really gonna miss.
Release courtesy Connecticut College Sports Information
