Let The Games Begin

Approximately four years down, less than one day to go. 8-8-08 is nearly upon us (actually it already is upon the athletes and spectators in Beijing). Yes, the Summer Olympics are here, and I hope you're pumped. I love the Olympics. It is sports' biggest stage. It only comes around once every four years. And, the showcase sports are swimming, track, and gymnastics, three great sports that don't get nearly the attention they deserve (outside of Olympic competition) here in the good ole USofA.

Regarding the swimming action, there are some great story lines in Beijing. Can Michael Phelps one-up Mark Spitz and win eight golds in one Olympiad? What is 41 year old Dara Torres capable of doing in the 50 and sprint relays? Just how dominant will Team USA be on the men's side? It's going to be a great show, and after the excellent coverage NBC had for Olympic Trials, I can't wait for what's in store.

Finally, I want to talk about Lopez Lomong, who I'm sure will get plenty of press during the opening ceremonies tomorrow. He's been selected as the flag bearer for Team USA. He'll be running the 1500m on the track in the Games, and his life story is pretty amazing. He's originally from Sudan, and basically spent his entire childhood in a refugee camp after escaping a militia camp where young boys were abducted and brainwashed/trained to become soldiers. Well in 2001, he was brought over to the United States and adopted by a family not too far from where I grew up in NY. He became a star pretty quickly, winning state titles in high school and a couple NCAA titles in college. He gained his citizenship and is now representing the United States in the Olympics and carrying the flag at the opening ceremonies. Pretty cool.

Busy Weekend

It was a busy last four days for yours truly. Thursday and Friday were spent in DC, Saturday and Sunday in upstate NY.

Part one of my journey had me in DC for YMCA Nationals, which were held at the University of Maryland. Both YMCA Nationals events are great meets, and this year's long course edition did not disappoint. There was some fast long course swimming to be had at the meet. Congrats to all who swam, including an R-MC Class of 2012 breaststroker who had a solid meet! While at the meet, I stayed literally 2 blocks from the White House, which is why you get to enjoy this beautiful BD original through the gated fence:


Part two of the journey had me going to "gorges" Ithaca, NY for the USA Triathlon Sprint Distance National Championships (where I was an athlete, not a coach). Ithaca is known for it's gorges, including one that features the tallest waterfall in the northeast (see below - as a frame of reference, you can see some tiny dots on the trail in the bottom right hand corner of the picture...those are people). At 216 feet, it's 49 feet taller than Niagara Falls. They actually sell t-shirts that say "Ithaca is Gorges," and yes, I am the proud owner of one such shirt. As for the race, it was a mixed bag. Solid swim and run legs, subpar bike (which cost me the race. Come on Normann!).


Part three of the journey turned out to be the drive back down to Virginia, which was an ordeal that I care not to relive. I'll just say it took much longer than anticipated to make it back, and leave it at that.

Swim Camp

Today is my first day back in the office after 3 weeks of swimming camp at Hamilton College. Coaching at swim camp is always fun because it allows me to work with swimmers of a different age range than what I'm used to. It's also a change of pace in that the Hamilton camp is a technique camp, not a training camp. This gives the coaches working it a chance to focus solely on teaching swimming, something most college coaches wish they had more time to do with their own teams during the season. Finally, it's fun for me to go back to the place I did my own college swimming and enjoy the great summertime weather in upstate New York, which is very different from upstate New York in the winter (which lasts about 6 months by the way).

Back in VA. Back to work. Go Jackets!

Money Talks - Academic vs. Athletic Scholarships

Let’s say you’re a pretty good swimmer who’s starting to look at colleges. Among the many decisions to make over the next ten months is whether to focus your efforts on D1, D2, or D3 schools. Like any other college bound student, you probably don’t want to pay the full sticker price to attend ANY school. Who could blame you, a college education is very, very expensive. So right off the bat, you may be drawn toward D1 and D2 schools by the allure of the athletic scholarship. What do those D3 schools have to offer you, right? Well, as it turns out, D3 schools like Randolph-Macon can be quite affordable, and will most often be able to offer you more money based on academic achievement than a D1 school would be able to offer for an athletic scholarship.

Bill Pennington of The New York Times wrote an excellent article on the subject of athletic scholarships earlier this year, in which the reality of the situation was laid out pretty well. The truth is that there aren’t too many full scholarships that are given out in D1 athletics. Most Division 1 scholarship athletes, including some of the very best, receive only partial athletic scholarships. The NCAA actually limits the number of scholarships that sports teams can award. In women’s swimming, the maximum is 14 in Division 1 and 8.1 in Division 2. On top of that, you have to take into account the fact that not all swimming teams are funded at these maximum levels by their university athletic departments. Finally, keep in mind that teams can carry 18 swimmers to conference and NCAA championships, and most coaches will want more athletes than that on their roster. The end result is that most scholarships are divided up among the 20 or more athletes on the team. The average D1 women’s swimming scholarship amounts to approximately $9,500. In Division II, it is less than this.

Now compare that to Randolph-Macon:
At R-MC, the average award for academic scholarships and grants is in excess of $16,800. Our Presidential Scholars Program gives out awards ranging up to $20,000 per year!! In addition to this, the average need based financial aid package is $24,200, with 52% of students receiving such awards.

It literally pays to do well in school, and in many cases, a student will get more money at Randolph-Macon from the combination of academic awards and need based aid than from a Division 1 athletic scholarship.

Sad News

Since my last post was about graduation and focused on the commencement speaker, Tim Russert, I feel it is only appropriate to note of Mr. Russert's unfortunate death on June 13th. As anyone who tuned in to NBC or MSNBC the week after Mr. Russert's death knows, he was more than just one of the premier political journalists in the nation. While his friends, family, and colleagues mourned his death, so too did those who had only known Mr. Russert through their television sets, and yet somehow felt connected to him on a personal level. He had that effect on people. The sheer number of television hours devoted to memorializing Mr. Russert shows us just how impactful he was on the lives of others.

The Randolph-Macon Class of 2008, and everyone else who had the opportunity to see and hear Tim Russert speak at the May 31st graduation ceremony, should consider themselves lucky to have received some wisdom from this great man.

Graduation Day

Last Saturday, May 31st, was graduation day here at R-MC. The 2008 commencement exercises were held outdoors on what was a beautiful early summer day (summer starts early here in the south) in central Virginia. The commencement address was given by Tim Russert, who is best known as the moderator of NBC's Meet The Press. Russert (also a native of upstate NY, FYI) urged the class of 2008 to give back and use their R-MC education to help those who are less fortunate.

Graduation also marked the end of a 4-year journey for our 3 seniors, Aimee Powell, Maureen McLaughlin, and Randi Smith. Though not the largest graduating class around, the R-MC Swimming Class of 2008 made up in character what it lacked in numbers. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it'll take a lot more than 3 incoming swimmers to replace the amount of character we're losing to graduation. Luckily, we are welcoming 8 freshmen to the team for next season!

Best of luck to Aimee, Maureen, and Randi as they enter the "real world" and begin their lives as post-grads!

Champions Dinner

Randolph-Macon Athletics held it's annual Champions Dinner last weekend in the Brock Center. The Champions Dinner honors and recognizes senior athletes and many of the top individuals and teams from throughout the year. The night featured speeches from top administrators (including President Lindgren), the scholar-athlete award winners, and a highlight reel of our championship baseball team.

The swimming team was well represented at the dinner, with 8 members of the team being invited. It was a great night for R-MC Athletics, and a nice way to end the year. Perhaps next year we'll be watching a video of the championship swimming team?!?


Corinne, Aimee, Maureen, and Meredith W. at the Champions Dinner.

Down Goes Swann!

Randolph-Macon's newest school record holder put her record up on the board today. Corinne broke Sarah Swann's old mark of 2:14.74 in the 200 fly with her dominating 2:14.15 swim against W&L back in January. Congrats Corinne!

Here's the play-by-play.

Before:

During:

After:

Happy Holidays From R-MC Swimming

Welcome!

Welcome to the new home on the web for Randolph-Macon swimming! Be sure to check back often for updates and an insider's look at what it's like to swim for the Yellow Jackets.