Bilott headed to Richmond
RICHMOND, Va. — Don’t blame University of Richmond women’s swimming coach Matt Barany if he’s gotten a bit spoiled.
His program won eight consecutive Atlantic 10 championships before finishing second last year.
“We were denied a ninth,” Barany said. “Now we have to do something about it.”
Part of such action was to bring in Shady Side Academy senior and Penn Township resident Anne Marie Bilott as a recruit.
Bilott has won championships with the Butler Country Club swim team and earned four top-10 finishes in the PIAA meet last winter.
She placed eighth in the 100-meter breaststroke, fifth in the 200 individual medley and swam legs on the 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay units that placed sixth and 10th, respectively.
“We generally base our recruiting on what we’re losing,” Barany said. “If a football team loses a bunch of wide receivers, it will recruit a bunch of wide receivers.
“With us, we need to get stronger in the breaststroke, and Anne can help us there.”
Bilott placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke at the WPIAL meet as a junior.
Bilott made an unofficial visit to Richmond last year. She also visited Pitt and Miami of Ohio before canceling a scheduled visit to Bucknell to sign with Richmond.
“It’s a tremendous program, having won so many titles,” Bilott said. “A girl I used to swim with went there and has been doing great ever since. That was a big selling point for me.
“I’m hopeful my breaststroke will help them right away, but I’m hoping to improve all of my strokes in this program.”
Despite failing to win the A-10 title last year, the Spiders’ women’s swimming team won 26 medals at the conference meet.
“We don’t restrict our swimmers in any way,” Barany said. “We may want Anne for her breaststroke right now, but her strengths may develop in other areas as well.
“She has tremendous upside and our swimmers receive a lot of coaching attention,” he added.
Barany added that Bilott has yet to be in a swimming program that will train her at the rate Richmond will.
“She’s never had training as complete as what she’ll see here,” he said. “She will improve just by adding training stimulus alone.”
Bilott agreed.
“High school training and college training are two completely different things,” she said. “Under their guidance, I expect to get much stronger and do much better.”
Barany has coached three swimmers to NCAA championships and two to the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Bilott carries a 3.5 grade-point average at Shady Side and plans to major in business.
