Most Successful Grads

So our sports information director recently sent out an e-mail asking for a list of successful graduates for a series of articles he's working on. A couple of coaches hit "reply all" with some decent names, but in just a couple of minutes here's what I came up with:

• Alex Van Huis - admitted to four of the top fourteen biomedical engineering programs in the country (he didn't apply to the other ten) and is currently pursuing his PhD.
• Bryan Pelka - studying medicine at the armed services medical school in Bethesda (i.e. he's earning a salary instead of paying $100k/year in med school tuition).
• Ivan Manolov - recruited by Yahoo! out of school, quit that to make six-figures for a hot start-up in the valley (Honestly.com), though he's quitting that to work for another start-up (CollegeSwimming.com)
• Dr. Brad Wipfli - after studying neuroscience, Dr. Brad got his PhD from Arizona State. After this, he was awarded the 2009 dissertation of the year award from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and is now a researcher at the Oregon Health & Science University.
• Nathan Fisher - just graduated from the National University of Health Sciences and is now a Chiropractor.
  
• Chris Trella - Getting Masters in Kinesiology from University of Johannesburg (South Africa) after teaching in Alaskan village and in China.
  
• Henry Somers & Nathaniel Chapman - rapidly rising up the corporate ladder for Oracle and Cummins up in the Twin Cities.
• Stacey Kiefer - Swimwear/Apparel Purchasing Manager with Adolph Kiefer & Associates. She's also a part-time model for Jockey International (photo right).
  
• Steve Szymanski - recruited straight out of Carthage to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big Five accounting firms.
• James Beaman & Charlie Staniger - James works at Corporate for Walgreens while Charlie is on the managerial fast-track and running the store at 18th street;
• Justin Reeder - Deputy Sheriff, Porter County Indiana; and
  
• Teachers & Coaches: Almost too many to mention and many I'm sure I've forgotten but they include Andy Bax & Tracey Keckler - both teachers here in KUSD; Tricia Biedron and Kristen Martin (Suburbs), Nick Parry (West Chicago), Jessica Bogie (Delta Aquatics), Delilah Center (Chesterton, Indiana) Amanda Croix (west point), really too many to mention
• 
  

I'm sure I've forgotten some, but not a bad list.

Reeder + Dalilah Tie the Knot

Another marriage between a former Red Men and Lady Red.  Yesterday it was Justin Reeder and Dalila Center tying the knot in a ceremony overseen by yet another Lady Red - Jean Woods.  I think it was the first such union since Andy & Kelli Kleprod and last until Casey Griffiths and Betzy Drzal next month.

A good turnout of alums made the drip including the aforementioned Andy, Kelli and Jean.  Also saw Henry Somers, Nathaniel Chapman, James Beaman (and their wives) along with Ivan Manolov, Nathan Fisher, Tim Dodson, Geno Halpin, Chris Illing, and Charlie Lorenz - a living who's-who of my first four years at Carthage.  Also saw Tricia Beidron, Kirby Oren, Karen Beaman (sorry, I've already your maiden name) and probably a couple others I can't remember.

All-in-all a great day, the only downside was that I found myself wearing shoes and long pants (two things I abhor) amid everyone else wearing shorts and sandals at the informal affair.

Can Swimming Help Your Academics?

Got word that Bryan Pelka has been acing his medical school interviews.  I was humbled to hear that one of my letters of recommendation was especially helpful in Brian's admission to the Medical College of Wisconsin, so I e-mailed a member of the committee to ask about participating in athletics and how something like that is viewed by medical school admissions offices.

The doctor took time out of his busy schedule (read on to see what he does) to write, "For me personally, and the admissions committee in general, activities are very important.  If a student can excel academically while performinag at a very high level in athletics or other activity, then that shows me that they are very driven and can assume the rigors of medical school."

He then went on to talk about the emphasis he places of letters of recommendation, "because I have 30 minutes to get to know a candidate and people who write letters have a lot more time with the candidate."

I was intrigued by this because the doctor said my letter of recommendation was the best he's ever read.  I'm humbled by the compliment, but think it is a reflection of the fact that when I write a letter of recommendation, I invest a lot of time into it, and make it honest (sometimes brutally so).  When you're a swimmer at Carthage there are times when things are tough.  If not, then you're not working enough or I need to (and will) challenge you more.  What happens though, is that in those times, you see how a person's character is revealed, and more often than not, they succeed, and they grow.  When it happens, its the best part of my job.  It's also what helps the swimmer take on bigger challenges down the road, and what makes it easy for me to say good things about the person I'm writing about.

Finally, he gave us a great endorsement when he concluded that our program can "help them achieve their goals after their time at Carthage", before offering to speak with and review future swimmers' applications before submitting them.

How about that for a great contact / endorsement?  I just hope we never need to lean on the guy for his 'real' responsibility - trauma surgeon.

Happy Thanksgiving - Go Huskers!

New Arrival

Sometimes your plans don't go as planned. Past Olympic Gold Medallist BJ Bedford-Miller is in town and we're going to grab dinner tonight. With campus beginning to get busy, I decided the best way to get a lot done would be to get an early ride in, then work from home, then grab dinner with BJ.

So I get changed, get the bike out and by now, Splash is jumping with excitement knowing that we're heading to the trails. Then the phone rings. It's Joey Thompson head of maintenance at the athletic center.

"You coming in today?"

"Wasn't planning to."

"Well that record-board you wanted?"

"Uh huh"

"Well, its up, they need you to come in and make sure everything's layed out right before taking down the scaffolding."

Vegas 911! Reeder Gets Tased

New Year's Eve - 8:00 so what am I doing? Watching the Chick-Fil-A Bowl of course! Had a chance to catch-up with Justin Reeder '07 backstroker and captain who is in the police academy in Nevada. Apparently it is nothing like the movies make it out to be. Part of the training is sure to make Andy Steenrod envious - getting tased. Here's Reeder's update:

Looks like the season is starting out great. How are the guys doing in practice? Are Freshman adapting well to the hard work ethic in practice? Things out here in Vegas are going great, the weather is perfect. The academy however is the hardest thing I've ever done. Average age is 28. I'm the baby of the group but I'm one of the leaders. I am a platoon seargent leading nine other grown adults. If you were to tell me last year, that most of the lessons from that leadership class was to resurface again later in life I'd say yeah right! It's all about leading with class and getting everyone to rely on each other. I'm glad I had the experience of leading prior to this because it definitely makes life a lot easier.


I pretty much relate this whole academy experience to being an athlete back in college but with a lot harsher coaches. The staff place a huge amount of stress on us everyday for the fact that they want us to be able to think on our feet and not react to the stressors in front of us. There are nights that I get only a few hours of sleep due to writing "positive reinforcement" reports or studying for the next day's activities. Our physical training everyday is some of the hardest exercise I've experienced. We do some things that place so much pain in my muscles that the only thing that gets me through it is knowing I have left far more blood and sweat in that pool in Kenosha than I will ever leave here on the PT Field. I've gained 7.5 lbs since the academy started, due to the large amount of push ups done every week. You want the guys to stay in shape for the off season just tell them to do a boot camp for the summer.

This past Friday was pepper spray day. It sucked, I'm convinced that pepper spray is actually the devil's spit. My eyes did not feel better until a day later. After I got sprayed it didn't set in until I was half way through beating a pad with my baton. We had to go through an obstacle course which comprised of staff coming at us with pads and we were SUPPOSED to fight them off, as well as do some thinking stations where we answered various law questions. But of course the feeling that your eyes are melting makes it a lot harder than it sounds. I did well minus the whole burn thing, I actually unknowingly did some martial arts that I have not thought about in since dryland about six years ago. Its amazing what happens when put in a "fecal matter on a rotating fan" situation. Your body just goes into auto pilot and you think about what you do and say later.

Well its time to get back to the books. Tell the guys to keep working hard and swimming fast. I'll be cheering for them out here in the desert.

Take care,

Reeder

To quote freshman Bob Pellican "Child's Play". (Bob said that after just about every set on training trip.

Happy New Year. Hopefully I'll be watching the Huskers around this time next year.

A-Rod Makes Waves

It seems there IS life after swimming. Just ask Andy Steenrod '06. Last week the guy won the Men's 2 Mile Open Water Challenge hosted by the Kenosha Barracudas. As if that wasn't enough, the very next day brought the invitation to A-Rod and Kelli Klepel's '06 (she finished 3rd) August wedding.

A-Rod's a great story of Carthage swimming. He didn't exactly leap off the page when I was first introduced to him. He had decent grades and so-so times. He snuck into the Illinois state meet with a 2:06 IM and I think his 500 was around 5:07. It was my first recruiting class and while I was trying to get ANYONE to look at Carthage, Andy and his recruitment were largely overshadowed by other guys were were after. About the only thing notable about the kid was the fact that his father was Carthage's 1978 MVP and his high school mascot was a Pretzel.

For four years though, this guy churned and churned. Each fall he faced some new freshman rival. Each year he risked a little more, made the right choices (yes, even Kelli), and never once sought out the limelight. I'm not sure if he ever walked away with any of our team awards, but four years later A-Rod was everything we could ever ask for in a Red Man. He developed into an exemplary team captain, dropped down to 4:42 in his 500, became the first Carthage swimmer under 10:00 in the 1000, got himself an NCAA Cut and became a CSCAA Academic All-American. Not too bad for a 5:07 freestyler, and just a glimpse of what lies ahead for Mr. Andy Klepel.

Backstrokers Getting Hitched

Well whaddya know? Nathaniel Chapman ('06) looking very Lerch-like at the left got the girl and last weekend he got married. It was the second of a pair of backstroke weddings.

This is a far cry from the catatonic high school senior who on his visit did nothing but stare at the television while I extolled the virtues of Carthage College and Carthage swimming to he and his Mom.

There was a great turnout by swimming alums - Henry Somers, Ivan Manolov, Tim Dodson, Chris Illing, Roberto Jorda-Cid and many more that I'm sure I've missed. It was the second alum wedding Not bad for a guy who helped put Carthage swimming on the map with:

• Eight-Time All-American Awards
  
• Four-Time Academic All-American Selections
  
• 2005, 2006 CoSIDA/ESPN All-District Selections
  
• 2006 CCIW All-Academic Award
  
• 2005 Falduto Carthage Athlete of the Year Award
  
• 2006 Simmons Carthage Career Achievement Award
  
• 2006 CCIW MVP
  
• 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 All-Conference Selection
  
• 2003, 2005 Carthage Swimming MVP
  
• 2006 Carthage Swimming Most-Valuable Teammate (His Favorite)
  
• Not to mention about a dozen broken school records

Oh and the previous holder of Carthage's backstroke records? Well, that person would be none other than DJ Hessenthaler ('02) who enjoyed his own wedding to Chera LaCourt. In fact for a couple of years, DJ would come back for the alumni meet and smoke Chappy in th 50 backstroke.

James Gets Published

Just got an e-mail from James "Big Guns" Beaman '05. (That's him on the right with the hat). JB was part of my first freshman class and the ideal of a Carthage guy. He was all-conference for us, and he was recently published in Mathematics Magazine. He makes a great point about one of the advantages of a place like Carthage:

I meant to forward you this a while back. It is about the Train Track article I co-wrote with my professor Mark Snavely for Mathematics Magazine. Part of the article is based on the research that I did as part of my senior thesis. Ivars Peterson is one of the premier mathematics writers in the country. He read our article and wrote a column about it in Science News Online. Most undergrads don't get the chance to have their work published in a major math publication, let alone have it written about in Science News.

Besides giving me a chance to brag, I thought this could be a big advantage for Carthage if we are recruiting someone that is interested in a graduate education in math or even if they are looking to go into business - the article helped me get my position at Walgreens. It is awesome that Carthage is able to give undergrads an opportunity like the one I had.

Who knew Math could be so cool?

We Asked and You Responded!

So far this year four men's swimming teams have been eliminated. While that won't be happening at Carthage, it bothers me because in at least a couple of those cases, the cuts could have been avoided if the teams had established endowments to support their budget. If an endowment can save a threatened team, just think of what it can do for one that's on the rise!

That's why I was excited to announce the creation of the Carthage Men's Swimming Endowment at last month's banquet. We're building a fund that will eventually provide the team an eternal source of funding that will enhance our swimmers’ experience and help Carthage compete at a national championship level. With the revenues produced by the endowment we'll be able to do some "extras" like new record boards, off-campus team-building activities and the addition of more support staff (massage therapist, sports psychologist, video coordinator).

It takes $10,000 to start an endowment. As you may know, patience is not one of my virtues. I challenged our alumni and friends to establish the endowment by next September’s Captain’s Biathlon reach the $20,000 mark by next Spring's banquet. I even agreed to personally match each donation until the endowment has been established. The response has been overwhelming and I'm excited to announce that it didn't take six months to establish the endowment - it took one.

That doesn't mean the campaign is over. The challenge of building a successful program never ends. We are still on our way to the $20,000 mark. Many schools request donations to buy suits, pay for training trip or purchase new equipment. Not us, I'm hoping you will help us build something that will further set Carthage apart from the rest of the swimming world and benefit Carthage swimmers for years to come. To donate, e-mail Greg

Congratulations Justin!

When I came to Carthage the first and biggest recruit I landed wasn't a swimmer - it was an assistant. Justin Jennings came on board for nothing more than $1,000 cash and the promise of building something special at Carthage. He came in and together we built and built and built. Those skilsl will come in handy because Justin was just named head coach at Coe College. It's a great school, great pool, great town, and now they've got a great coach and a great person. But hey, we're not here to promote a soon-to-be-rival school. That's his job now. We'll just say Congrats Justin!

Madness Time

It's the absolute BEST time of the year. I mean sure the NCAA Championships are this week, but Spring Training is here and opening day is just weeks away. The weather's turned the corner and golf can't be far off. Even NASCAR (don't laugh- it's a team sport) is on. But every year on this coming weekend, between prelims and finals, I find myself flipping on CBS to catch every game I can. (Scratch that, at 2001 NCAA's our hotel was across the street from the Nassau Collesium so I got a chance to see it in person). I love it, not just because CBS's $6 billion TV contract helps underwrite the swimming championships, but because of the frenzy. As commercialized as NCAA sports have become this weekend the unpredictability of competition takes center stage.

Want to join the mix? Join members of the team and alumnae in our own bracket.

Big News Coming . . .

Mark your calendars for the 2007 Carthage Swimming Team Banquet. We will honor this year's team for their accomplishments and also have a very big announcement. Can't tell you more - Register Online and make plans to attend April 1st at the Charcoal Grill in Racine.

Bissell the Missle - Going the Distance

Jordan Bissell '04, the man, the myth the legend. He's a philosopher, a sprinter, a man among men and now, he's a triathlete.

Opting to ditch this year's biathlon, the Missle, in his first-ever tri, placed 18th out of 341 entrants. He averaged 1:23's per 100, 21.1 mph on the bike and 6:32 miles, not bad for a guy who, at the end of a 50 would tighten up faster than a socket wrench. The race report, from the Missle himself:

"I did pretty good. I made the mistake of hanging out with Adam the night before and Red Bull the morning of the race; I was extremely dehydrated: defintiely affected my performance. And I sprinted the 1st 50 of the 500, and died pretty quickly. But, all in all, considering it was my first race, I did pretty good: 18th/300+ (I was 5 minutes off first place). I think had I been hydrated I could have shaved off quite a bit of time off the run. But it was exhilirating, and I'm encouraged to train and compete more.If you wade through the swimming photos you can find some pretty silly shots of me."

Matt Goes to Sea

Some guys can drive a ski boat, then there's Matt Kolodica, '02. Matt was here when I first arrived and like many-a-new coaches with inherited swimmers, we didn't always see eye-to-eye. Actually, that might be sugarcoating it, but in time Matt grew into one of the best teammates a coach could ask for. Somehow along the way we managed to drop his lifetime bests by two seconds in the 100 and seven seconds in the 200 breaststrokes. Most importantly, Matt's developed into a great friend, to me and to the program.

So what's Matt up to? Well, he commands a the USCGC Maui, a 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter. They're taking a break from intercepting drug runners, smugglers and the like by patrolling the Persian Gulf. In the above shot, he's navigating the Maui towards an Iraqi tug to conduct a security sweep before it's permitted to approach the Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal. Here's a great article about him.