Ozzie Quevedo Takes on Interim Head Coaching Role for the Crimson Tide
12/30/2020 4:06:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
The former Olympian and NCAA Champion has made a career out of bringing people together and helping them get the most out of their respective talents
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – For Ozzie Quevedo, the same thing that drew him to coaching and eventually to The University of Alabama is the same thing that excites him about his new role as Interim Head Coach and his role in making the Crimson Tide's transition to Margo Geer's tenure as head coach as smooth as possible.
"At the end of the day, we're in the people business," he said. "I love to get in there and get to know someone and help them be the very best they can be in all aspects of their lives. That's what coaching is all about, from recruiting to graduation and everything in between, it's working as hard as you can to help people get the most out of their God-given talents."
An Olympian and NCAA Champion as a swimmer, Quevedo sees the same qualities that have made him a success during every step of his athletic journey in Geer, who will become Alabama's head coach following the end of her competitive career.
"First and foremost, she's a student of the sport," Quevedo said. "She has a great technical understanding of fast swimming, and she's absorbed a great deal of knowledge from everyone she's worked with along the way. She understands the magnitude of this position and is extremely dedicated and driven to be successful here. She's willing to ask questions and take a collaborative approach to moving this program into the future. She has great support from our administration and from this staff. That backing for our program from all quarters hasn't changed, and I think the kids feed off that kind of support and continuity."
Quevedo's role with the Crimson Tide for the rest of this season and beyond is one of the keys to that continuity, and his ability to bring people together will be instrumental to the Tide's ongoing success.
"My job over this period is to help pull everyone together and keep things going in a positive direction," he said. "When they asked me to do that, I didn't even hesitate, because this is what I do best. This is what I know I can deliver for the program and for Margo."
The new semester also brings the end of the regular season, with dual meets against Auburn and Georgia Tech in January, as well as the postseason, starting with the SEC Championships.
"Our challenge as a team – and nobody is running away from this – is to focus in on closing strong and really enjoying this part of the season and making the most out of all the hard work the team has put in," Quevedo said. "Everyone on the staff is 100 percent supportive, and we're getting a lot of positive feedback from the swimming community … people are really rooting for this team and are excited about the future of this program."
Quevedo and the Crimson Tide are building on an extraordinary 2019-20, despite the season being cut short by the COVID-19 global pandemic.
"I'm not sure anyone knew how successful we were going to be in year one," Quevedo said. "We knew we had tremendous support from the administration, and we could see the modernization of the facility as they finished everything during our first summer and fall, raising it to a championship level. All the pieces were there, but from that point, it's a matter of putting the pieces together. We just jumped in and started building relationships."
As those relationships were being built, the program began to rise week-by-week. Through the preseason, the dual meets and at the mid-season invitational, the program was getting better.
"Even with all that early success, we didn't really know what we had until we got to the SEC Championships last spring," Quevedo said. "From the start of that meet, the kids never looked back, it was kind of a 'next one up,' feeling on the deck as we built success on success that week. It was very rewarding."
In all, last season saw the Tide qualify 24 student-athletes for the NCAA Championships, earn 57 All-America honors, win a league-best nine SEC titles, set SEC records in four different events and break 23 school records over the five days of the SEC Championships.
Quevedo also helped Rhyan White to a breakout sophomore season in 2020 that saw her win SEC gold in the 100 and 200 backstroke and set SEC records in both events as well as shatter the school marks in the 100 and 200 backstroke and 100 and 200 butterfly. She was the No. 1 seed in the 200 backstroke heading into the 2020 NCAA Championships before they were canceled due to the global Coronavirus pandemic.
"One of the great things about Alabama is that every team, every coach, staffer and administrator and every student-athlete is pulling in the same direction," Quevedo said. "Everyone wants to win championships. Everyone is striving for greatness, and that kind of environment makes everyone better."
A member of Auburn's 1999 NCAA Championship team and a 2000 Olympian for his native Venezuela, the opportunity to coach the Tide gave Quevedo a chance to not only return to the pinnacle of swimming in the Southeastern Conference, but also the state of Alabama, a homecoming of sorts for his family.
"Before, when I came here as a swimmer it was back and forth between the hotel and the pool," Quevedo said. "Then when I came back as a coach with Auburn or Florida State, it was the same – back and forth between the hotel and the pool. So, when I joined the staff and finally had a chance to look around, I was blown away. This campus is so amazing, and Tuscaloosa is a wonderful place to live, it's been such a great experience for me and my family."
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