University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Kevin Litherland
October 26, 2016 | Swimming & Diving
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Kevin Litherland is the one without the freckle on his face. One-third of the Litherland triplets on the Georgia men's swimming team, the oldest, in fact, Kevin is used to being asked about being one of three, all of them superior swimmers.
Mick is the middle triplet and Jay the baby, and also the Olympian. All three Litherlands were at the Olympic Trials, but only Jay made the team and competed in the Rio Olympics, placing fifth in the 400-meter individual medley. It was both wonderful and painful watching his brother compete in the Games, Kevin said.
Prior to Wednesday afternoon's practice at the Gabrielsen Natatorium — the Bulldog men and women are gearing up for an 11 a.m. home meet Friday against Florida — Kevin, who swims the freestyle and individual medley, sat down for a quick chat about he and his brothers, the Olympics and much, much more.
Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What's the greatest performance or athletic feat of your life?
Litherland: Does it have to be athletic? Because some of us aren't that athletic. (Laughs) Well, I skateboard a lot and going down the halfpipe, when I first did it, it was pretty crazy. All of my friends were saying that you're going to hurt yourself and you're going to end your season if you do this, but I just went for it.
It was just this big drop that nobody thought I could do.
Frierson: As Georgia athletes do you have to think about what you do outside of team activities, when it's something like skateboarding that could lead to an injury? Of course at the same time you could trip and break an arm walking across the street.
Litherland: Yeah, I think so. That was after NCAAs (freshman year), so it wasn't during the season or anything.
Frierson: When people ask you and your brothers for tips on how to tell you apart, what do you usually say?
Litherland: What we do is, Jay has a freckle on his nose and we usually tell people about that, and Mick has one on his cheek. And I don't have any. That works for, like, 50 percent of people because you have to get really close to see if there's a freckle or not.
Other than that, maybe the hair. We try to keep our hairstyles pretty different.
[Author's note: Right now Kevin's hair is quite short on the sides, Jay's haircut is fairly middle of the road and Mick's is a bit longer. Of course they'll be wearing swim caps in the pool Friday so that info might not help you much.]
Frierson: Is that a conscious thing or are the different hairstyles a by-product of your different personalities?
Litherland: I guess it's probably a little bit of both. I know I don't want to be looking just like my brothers.
Frierson: In terms of personalities, is there any one thing that really separates you three? Is one of you into something that's kind of an outlier, that the other aren't into at all?
Litherland: Not that I can think of. We listen to the same music and we're here swimming all the time. I don't know.
Frierson: What's the most creative thing you do? Or what's something creative you wish you could do?
Litherland: Jay, actually, can draw pretty well, I'm not going to lie. He can draw pretty well and me and Mick, we can't really do much. (Laughs) That's something where he's definitely better than us.
I always kind of wanted to be really good at playing the guitar, actually. We actually had one, it was Mick's, but he never really got into it, he didn't get that good.
Frierson: If you could go back and talk to your 18-year-old self that was just arriving at Georgia, what would you tell him?
Litherland: I guess just don't hold back. For me, when I was a freshman, I would always want to try to catch the other, older guys. ... Don't think about it too much and just go for it.
Frierson: What was it like watching Jay compete in Rio? Was the family there?
Litherland: We actually weren't there, it's kind of expensive for a family to go, but it was awesome seeing my brother there. But it was also kind of devastating, for me and my brother Mick, because we wanted to be right there with him. But that definitely motivates us to work even harder this year and all the way to 2020.
Frierson: Is it possible to watch your brother compete in something like that without an envy? I wouldn't think so.
Litherland: There's pride, there's all of that — it hurts, for sure, but no matter what he's my brother and I'll support him in everything he does.
Frierson: When you're swimming lap after lap, putting in the miles that you have to put in, what's going through your mind?
Litherland: (Laughs) It can be anything from like what I did during the weekend to anything, really. You've just got to stay occupied or practice will just take forever.
Frierson: Who's the funniest person on the team?
Litherland: I would say (Colin Monaghan) — he's a sophomore and he just cracks me up. Every time I see him, he makes you want to laugh; it's the simplest things he says, but they're still funny.
Frierson: What's the hardest thing to do in sports?
Litherland: I think jumping in the cold water is pretty tough, I'm not going to lie. You never get used to it, so it's always a constant shock when you first touch the water.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
