Swearingen: ‘I always want to be better than I was yesterday’
By: Justin Felisko
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – 2022 World Champion Daylon Swearingen walked over to Carolina Cowboys head coach Jerome Davis before the Bonus Round at Cheyenne Frontier Days to discuss the options for the Carolina Cowboys.
Davis had challenged Swearingen earlier this summer to not get complacent with one gold buckle.
The 49-year-old coach told Swearingen he plans on pushing him to win more titles before his career is over, including a PBR Team Series Championship later this year in Las Vegas.
“He can’t be happy with one, and he knows that, and I don’t think he’s going to be happier with winning only one gold buckle,” Davis said.
Swearingen was ready to make his coach proud on Tuesday night and showed no signs of slowing down now that he is a PBR World Champion.
Swearingen and the Cowboys (1-1) defeated the Arizona Ridge Riders (1-1) Tuesday evening, 177.25-81.25, for their first win in PBR Teams. Swearingen began that game with an 87.25-point ride on Oilfield Outlaw’s Yellow Feather. Carolina’s Boudreaux Campbell posted the first 90-point score in PBR Teams history in the game with 90 points on Dr. Campbell.
The Bonus Round, though, was going to be a crucial tiebreaker for the five teams who were all tied for second place at 1-1 in the event standings Tuesday night, and Davis knew whose name he was going to call.
“Daylon’s our guy, so I’m sure we’re going to put him up to bat,” Davis said.
Swearingen once again proved that he appears ready to break out beyond what he already accomplished two months ago at the 2022 PBR World Finals. The Piffard, New York, native rode I’m Legit Too for 92.5 points in the Bonus Round to propel Carolina to a second-place finish overall in Cheyenne.
“Daylon, he always just steps up when we need him,” Davis said. “That’s what’s good about Daylon, and that’s why we wanted him. I’ve known Daylon since he was a young boy, and it feels good to have him on our team.”
The 22-year-old went a perfect 3-for-3 in Cheyenne, accounting for 50% of his team’s score, as the Cowboys led all teams with six qualified rides combined in the two games and Bonus Round.
“I always want to be better than I was yesterday,” Swearingen said. “I’ve got a lot more to work on just to keep improving on.”
Swearingen arrived in Cheyenne with a cloud of doubt as the thumb on his riding hand had been bothering him since he tweaked it at the Cody Snyder Charity Bull Bustin in Calgary, Alberta, three weeks ago.
However, Swearingen met with the PBR Sports Medicine Team, had his thumb wrapped, and no one could even tell he was not 100%.
“My thumb’s been bothering me since Calgary,” Swearingen admitted. “I just kind of cranked it over too hard, but it’s kind of going numb and stuff. Last week wasn’t very good (in Big Sky), but we’ve got to fix things and move forward.”
Swearingen is 20-for-33 (60.6%) since winning the 2022 world title, and his 20 rides at all levels of competition leads all riders in the PBR.
Is Swearingen riding looser or more easily now that he has accomplished a childhood goal of winning a gold buckle?
“I wouldn’t say it’s going to be any easier or anything like that going forward,” Swearingen said. “You still have accountability. You have to hold yourself to being accountable.”
Davis also plans to keep Swearingen levelheaded. Of course, not that the mild-mannered Swearingen will need to be reminded to stay humble.
Regardless, that does not mean Swearingen isn’t already thinking about the next championship hardware he wants to take home.
“I mean, a world title was just one goal, one thing,” Swearingen said. “Now there’s a new goal for the Teams, and then after the Teams, we’ll reevaluate a goal for the next deal. I won my first world title when it was the first time (the Finals were) in Fort Worth. It’d be really cool to win this teams title, being the first time ever doing it, back in Las Vegas.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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