“Payton went to nationals this summer out in Los Angeles, which is essentially one step below Olympic trials, so he’s been on the verge of making that. I thought his performance was great. At a pro-am like that, the 50 freestyle has a tendency to be dominated by guys in their mid-twenties, a little older, and so for him, I thought it was great swimming,” Gianiodis said.

He was equally impressed with Piper.

“Scott, I mean he swam fantastic,” Gianiodis said. “He just had great time drops; he swam great.”

For the swimmers, the Olympic-level performance marks another milestone in their careers. Woods swam a time of 23.05 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle.

“It’s a goal that I’ve had since I started my swimming career in high school,” Woods said. “I’ve always wanted to make one of the trial cuts and to finally achieve it … it’s really exciting, and I’m looking forward to seeing what I will be able to do in 2020.” 

Woods placed sixth overall in a pool of over 40 swimmers from across the country, and for the past month, friends and family have been constantly talking about his performance. To prepare himself for competition, he has a set of rituals that he goes through before every race. 

“I take a hot shower right after warm-up to kind of relax myself,” Woods said. “Before I race I like to listen to music, like rap, get myself pretty pumped up then go behind the block, do a couple of stretches, then it’s go time,” Woods said.

Piper, Woods’ teammate, was just as impressive at the meet. Piper earned his cut at the 2020 Olympic trials in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2 minutes, 3 seconds. In addition, he earned two personal records in both the 400-meter individual medley and the 200-meter butterfly. 

He believes swimming is as much mental as it is physical.

“There’s a lot of time spent in your own head staying at the bottom of the pool,” Piper said. “Having a really professional attitude - making sure you get a good warm-up in, do your pace, and nutrition. I have a lot more grit than I had ever expected. Swimming is really a challenging sport. You have to push through."

Following their progress, Gianiodis has been impressed with both Woods and Piper, as well as the entire team. In total, 13 swimmers participated in the 2018 US Winter National Swimming Championship with the men placing first in the collegiate division.

“The course is different than what we have in the NCAA competition because it was 50 meters, an Olympic course. For the kids to switch from the short pool to the long pool, I thought was really impressive,” Gianiodis said.

Piper and Woods both agree that time management and mental strength are some of the hardest challenges of being a swimmer at MSU. For them and all of his swimmers, however, Gianiodis has a simple goal for everybody that comes through the program.

“Have the understanding that work ethic means everything. Nothing is given, you have to earn it, and you have to earn it every day. If you have a good work ethic things are going to go your way,” Gianiodis said.