Five questions with Dagny Knutson

Dagny Knutson lives and trains in Minot, N.D., a city of about 37,000 in the upper half of the state. The 18-year-old recently won a pair of gold medals at the Charlotte UltraSwim. We caught up with Knutson and asked her about a variety of topics; see what she has to say about training, Pokemon and more.

You've had success in Charlotte the past two years. Why?
I think I've had success in Charlotte because it comes at a good time in the season. My coach and I thought of the meet as a mid-point to kind of see where I was with a little bit of rest. Now we are just maintaining what came form the meet so I can build up and get faster.

You only got one medal at nationals last year (third, 400m IM). What happened? Were you trying to do too much?
I think last year, the focus of our practices was too much on the amount of yardage I did and it became a drag. I also did some high-altitude training a couple weeks before nationals. It was great training but I think I was just burned out [and] tired. Now I'm training smarter and I'm much more confident in what I'm doing.

What do you think of the new swimsuit rules?
I like the new suit rules. Mostly because I like not having to be in the locker rooms for 40 minutes trying to put on a suit that'll give your fingers blisters! I think now swimmers can truly test themselves, and no one has an advantage.

Which older swimmer do you look up to the most, and why?
I don't think I look up to any swimmer in particular because pretty much all the older girls on the national team are so nice, helpful and encouraging. I'm probably closest to Ariana Kukors though. What she did [at the 2009 Worlds] was absolutely amazing and her swim was so inspirational. Watching her work in practice shows the elite athlete that she is.

What's the funniest moment you've had in the pool?
Actually I've had a silly moment with my relay team members before a 400 [freestyle relay]. It was right before the 400FR at our west region meet for our high school season in the fall '08. We were each wearing a different version of the Speedo Fastskins, and so we said we had "evolving Fastskins." Then we went on and on about how we were Pokemon characters because we were evolving. We even gave ourselves names like "Dagymon."

We were laughing hysterically all the way up on the blocks and we ended up swimming faster than the state record by 4 seconds. It might be one of those moments where you have to be involved to find it funny, but it was probably one of the funniest moments I've ever had in swimming.