03-26-2015, 06:38 PM
On the first night of the NCAA Men's Swimming Championships just completed, David Nolan, a senior mechanical engineering major, broke his 3-week old American/NCAA record in the 2000 IM. He set the record of 1:40.07 at last month's Pac-12 Championships and crushed it tonight.
For several reasons, this young man rocks my world. For one, he came out of high school having obliterated the HS record in the same event -- 1:41-something. Then for three years he toiled without much improvement. Finally, this year, breakthrough! In addition to any self-imposed pressure, he was regarded as a disappointment in the swimming community. As well, Stanford has a reputation among many as a school where good swimmers use their talents to gain admission, then lose the drive once here. The coach here is not generally held in high esteem. So I would imagine he's been carrying the burden of falling short of expectations, and also the burden of proving that Stanford and his coaches here can bring the best out of their swimmers.
Secondly, Stanford Men's swimming has fallen from its lofty perch of 30 or so consecutive top four finishes (!) at NCAAs. The team lacks an abundance of good swimmers to used in various permutation in the all-important relays that score big points. Consequently, Nolan has been called up to carry the team in relays by filling gaps (e.g. swimming the breaststroke -- arguably his 3rd or even 4th best stroke -- in today's medley relay). He had the fastest time in the 200 free relay this morning: 18.31 with a relay start. This relay duty in prelims and finals, which swimmers of the most powerful teams can avoid because of team depth, takes its toll on him, as there are only so many times a swimmer can go all-out in a 3-day meet. In other words, he's a big-time team player.
Thirdly, while I've never met him, he always comes across in interviews as pleasant and humble. Seems very grounded.
Finally, did I mention he's getting an ME degree? Believe it or not, these days many of the top swimmers aspire to become professional swimmers, and therefore treat college like aspiring NFL players do. That may be somewhat overstating the matter somewhat, but eligibility, rather than career development, is often the primary concern re academics. To be sure, few of those with whom Nolan competes have anywhere near the academic demands he's had. And few sports are as labor-intensive as swimming.
Whereas the live coverage of today's meet was atrocious, there should be archived video on swimswam.com by tomorrow for those interested in watching his swim and reading comments of non-Stanfordians. I'm not the only one who is very impressed with Nolan's achievements.
For several reasons, this young man rocks my world. For one, he came out of high school having obliterated the HS record in the same event -- 1:41-something. Then for three years he toiled without much improvement. Finally, this year, breakthrough! In addition to any self-imposed pressure, he was regarded as a disappointment in the swimming community. As well, Stanford has a reputation among many as a school where good swimmers use their talents to gain admission, then lose the drive once here. The coach here is not generally held in high esteem. So I would imagine he's been carrying the burden of falling short of expectations, and also the burden of proving that Stanford and his coaches here can bring the best out of their swimmers.
Secondly, Stanford Men's swimming has fallen from its lofty perch of 30 or so consecutive top four finishes (!) at NCAAs. The team lacks an abundance of good swimmers to used in various permutation in the all-important relays that score big points. Consequently, Nolan has been called up to carry the team in relays by filling gaps (e.g. swimming the breaststroke -- arguably his 3rd or even 4th best stroke -- in today's medley relay). He had the fastest time in the 200 free relay this morning: 18.31 with a relay start. This relay duty in prelims and finals, which swimmers of the most powerful teams can avoid because of team depth, takes its toll on him, as there are only so many times a swimmer can go all-out in a 3-day meet. In other words, he's a big-time team player.
Thirdly, while I've never met him, he always comes across in interviews as pleasant and humble. Seems very grounded.
Finally, did I mention he's getting an ME degree? Believe it or not, these days many of the top swimmers aspire to become professional swimmers, and therefore treat college like aspiring NFL players do. That may be somewhat overstating the matter somewhat, but eligibility, rather than career development, is often the primary concern re academics. To be sure, few of those with whom Nolan competes have anywhere near the academic demands he's had. And few sports are as labor-intensive as swimming.
Whereas the live coverage of today's meet was atrocious, there should be archived video on swimswam.com by tomorrow for those interested in watching his swim and reading comments of non-Stanfordians. I'm not the only one who is very impressed with Nolan's achievements.
