VS.   

This week is a big week for us in the pool. Not only do we have our annual battle with the DePauw Tigers on Friday evening (7:00PM/at DePauw), but we come home to face DII powerhouse--University of Indianapolis--Saturday afternoon for another battle in the Class of 1950 Natatorium (1:00PM/Senior Day). Although having two tough meets back-to-back sets us up very nicely to compete at a high level at our conference championship meet, it is always a challenge to face your biggest rival one day and follow that with another highly contested opponent the very next day.

In talking with some of the guys and other coaches this past weekend, the topic of the Wabash-DePauw rivalry was top of mind. Every year when we compete against DePauw, countless stories are shared by alumni and former coaches about what the rivalry has meant to them over the years, what crazy things may have happened in the past and it is so awesome to see how passionate we are here at Wabash about the (friendly) rivalry.

Having a rivalry as strong as Wabash vs. DePauw has enabled this community to come together in all sports, to root for one another, to cheer for fast times and good races. But more importantly, this rivalry provides us with the opportunity to share in our experiences long past this season and even graduation. You won’t always remember how fast you went in every event. You won’t always remember race strategy or how your teammates fared in similar situations. You will, however, remember the times when you came together as a unit, as a family, to compete against your biggest rival. You will remember the nervous energy you have before the meet or before your races, you might remember a big swim or two by one of your teammates (or yourself), the wins and losses…but it’s the idea of a rivalry that allows us to share in such memories.

We are encouraging anyone that would be interested in sharing memories of the Wabash-DePauw rivalry to do so as a ‘Comment’ to this blog entry. It does not necessarily have to be specific to our sport, but it gives all of us the opportunity to hear what this rivalry means to you.

So, what do you remember most about the rivalry between Wabash and DePauw or what does the rivalry mean to you?

Come support your swimmers and divers on Friday!

Posted by Kyle Dunaway at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

It is just about six months since I started at Wabash College and despite a semester filled with more ups and downs than Six Flags, it has been the best decision I have ever made. In my first semester at Wabash College I have been provided incredible insight to what it means to be a Wabash Man. Whether it was the death of a team member, the absence of key members at important meets, or the trials and tribulations of 38 degree winter training, this team and school has impressed me every day that I have been here.

Never before have I worked with a group of people (including swimmers, staff, faculty and administration) who came together as successfully with a singular purpose: support their Wabash brothers in a difficult time. The death of a team member is as difficult a situation as a college team can face and this school rallied to support each other like no other school can. I have never been prouder of a team than the one that took the bus ride to Patrick’s hometown this fall. I am sure his memory shall continue to inspire Wabash Men long after the students who knew him have graduated.

We then faced the TYR Classic Invitational missing two of our best swimmers. With little to expect from the team and hoping for a top 5 performance, we found ourselves narrowly leading the meet after the first day, and ended the meet in a very close third place, due the stand up efforts of the Little Giant swimmers. Knowing we had to make up for the absence of Jordon and Daniel, the team swam splendidly; each swimmer going season best times and Adam Petro setting a new team record in his “off” event.

After finals and a break for the holiday, we were off to sunny Florida. The state held true to its nickname for the first 5 days with weather in the 80’s. But the last three days were marked with weather that dipped into the 30’s. Gone were the “I’m so glad to be swimming outdoors” faces that were training for the first half of the week. In their place were the gritty looks of Wabash Men who “always fight” as they braved the cold front.

Upon returning home we competed tremendously against #6 ranked Washington University. Season or lifetime best times were recorded by Jordon Blackwell, Craig Vetor, Steve Zajac, John Kasey, Paul Wilson, Adam Current, Kyle O’Keefe, and a new pool and team record out of Elijah Sanders in the 1000 yard freestyle. These performances bode extremely well for our NCAC Conference Championships in February. I can’t wait to see how fast we will go!

Wabash Always Fights!

Coach Weitz

Posted by Kyle Dunaway at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hugh Vandivier '91--On Wednesday, we were driving one of the vans down I-95 to Deerfield Beach, Florida, where the team had spent its past three holiday training trips. It was an excursion encouraged by Coach John Weitz to see Peter Casares, whose Bates team was training where we used to. (Coach Weitz gets to see his old team, Johns Hopkins, when we “scrimmage” with them on Friday.)

With 15 upperclassmen in tow, we took one of the vans to visit the former Wabash swim coach and his new team. Senior co-captain John Kasey was maneuvering around the stereotypical gauntlet of pokey retirees in late model Cadillacs, erratic blondes on their cell phones, and hip hop kids speed racing their tricked out Cameros down the HOV lane.

Those of us in the front started a discussion as sophomore Paul Wilson played a well-selected and eclectic array of songs on the radio from his iPod. At one point, Kasey turned to me and said, “You know, Hugh, you’re the Wabash swimming griot."

Unfamiliar with the term, I asked for clarification. Kasey explained, “It’s the member of an African tribe who is the keeper of the oral tradition and history. After learning about it in C&T, [Robert] Fozkos said, ‘That’s Hugh!’

“It’s a position of great respect within the tribe.”

Humbled, the comment managed to shut me up well past the point of our exit onto Hillsboro Blvd.

This season has been one fraught with change and transition that it seemed almost surreal to drive back into our old haunts. We pulled into the Deerfield Aquatic Center and filed into the gate. Peter stood on deck with his Bates zippered hoodie, his hair a little longer. Just like any reception, one by one, the guys came up to Peter and each gave him a big hug. He then told us to hang tight while he finished running his team through dry land exercises as Davidson finished up their practice.

The weather was ideal…for a mid-October Wabash football conference game, that is! That morning, we had already put the guys through some very vigorous dry land training. We had twenty minutes to kill, so instead of watching them loiter, I had them lie on the deck and ran them through a sped up version of mental training. The relaxation tape was a staple of my Florida training experiences with Coach Gail Pebworth, and I replicated it from memory the best I could. My voice became placid and deliberate as I coaxed them to monitor their breathing and slowly relax themselves. I then guided them through a mental scene of a confident swimmer plowing through the water and anticipating the pain to produce an ideal race.

With a great deal less zeal than a Polar Bear Club member, our guys slipped into the bracing water with their Bates counterparts as Peter ran them through a familiar warmup. As you would expect, Peter had been keeping up on the guys and was very impressed with Craig Vetor, who had turned in some impressive times in the December TYR meet. He stopped Nick Rockefeller and corrected his stroke as the rest of the guys worked in with the Bates squad. He grinned as senior co-captain Aaron Spolarich updated him on team and campus tidbits between sendoffs.

We curtailed the main set due to the frigid water and air, with our guys glad to hit the hot showers but concerned about the reduced yardage. Such a team attitude to commitment just made me grin.

Back at the Carriage House Resort, some of the guys took to the newly painted shuffleboard court, challenging Peter to a game in the dying light. I could sense some awkwardness in the coach, like a time traveler running into his former self. You could tell as he slipped into the easy banter with the guys that Wabash had had a great affect on him. And he on these swimmers. He asked sophomore Jordan Extine about his family with great interest. Jordan reported that his dad, a member of the Indiana National Guard, had just left for Iraq.

Soon, it was evident in the unseasonal evening chill that we needed to head back. Another impromptu line formed as Peter hugged and encouraged each of his former swimmers. When he reached me at the end of the line, I said, “John, again, wanted me to tell you ‘Thank you so much for this team.’”

Peter looked at me silently, with a smile creeping across his face.

On the way back I thought about how pleased I was with how our guys have adapted to all that has been thrown at them. And the mishaps and headaches on this trip thus far—the van trouble, logistics of a new place, unique encounters with locals—are very minor compared to year’s past. [Knock on wood for no ER visits.]

I know, I was there. Or at least I know the stories...

Posted by Kyle Dunaway at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

John Kasey '08--So far the Wabash Swimming and Diving Team has made exceptional progress during our trip here in Florida. We have worked long and hard to set ourselves up for great competition in January and in February at the NCAC conference meet. Today we continued our grueling practices but under much different conditions. Temperatures dropped below their normal sunny 80’s to a high of 58 degrees. Such conditions made for less than favorable outdoor swimming. However, we did receive a break for our evening practice in the form of our former leader Peter Casares. I was fortunate enough today to load one of our big white vans with fifteen eager upperclassmen and travel a few minutes south to Deerfield Beach where Coach Casares and his new Bates College swimming and diving team have been laboring to improve their own season.

We had the opportunity to jump in the water with the Bates team and swim one more frigid practice under the leadership of Coach Casares. Although, we did end up getting out of the water earlier than expected due to the extremely cold weather, the practice was a success. After practice we headed back to our old stomping grounds at The Carriage House Resort Motel where we played a few heated games of shuffleboard against the still undefeated Coach Casares. After a number of unregulated foot faults on the part of Casares, the victory was stolen from Paul Wilson and I (at least that’s how I saw it happen) with a score of 15 to 69.

In all, the day was an interesting one for the entire team. We braved the cold weather for another day in the pool and one more chance to train under the watchful eyes of Coach Casares. The Bates team was very accommodating and we wish them the very best of luck in the remainder of their season.

The Little Giant swimmers and divers have a lot more in store for them and I am excited to see everyone working so hard. Experiences like these will make this team a tough one to beat.

Posted by Kyle Dunaway at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adam Current '11--Today, after an already rough morning practice, the swimmers were required to do a dive off the diving board, or as I like to say, 'The Well of Death!’ A few days prior, the divers were asked to participate in a relay race with the swimmers, so it was our turn to take our chances with diving. For those of you that do not know, I am deathly afraid of heights and just going off the three meter diving board takes a lot of courage. Luckily for me, this trip has been about having enough courage to get the job done.

Just the other night I had to face my fear of doing two hundred yard butterflies in practice. When Coach Dunaway said that we had five of them in a row, I wanted to crawl back to the security of high school swimming, but something inside told me to persevere. I survived the set and in doing so feel more confident about my abilities. As a result, I am slowly becoming stronger mentally while I am physically being challenged every practice.

When we first started the season, Coach Weitz told us that swimming is one-hundred percent mental--I now see what he means. Our practices themselves aren’t that bad, but when added to a string of similarly hard practices it is tough. But like I mentioned earlier, for me it is all about courage. Having the courage to get out of a nice bed when the alarm sounds, having the courage to suit up when you know that pain is inevitable, having the courage to tell yourself, ‘If I can just push it one more yard (or meter)...just one more.” But most of all, having the courage to face yourself and the clock, even when you just want to give up. As each practice steadily becomes history, I am surprising even myself with courage I didn’t even know existed!

All in all, when this is done I am more than confident that I will have enough courage to swim well at the conference meet. I am a firm believer that you 'reap what you sow,' and just by surviving this trip--let alone when you give it 100%--the rewards will be great. Just one more thing though, although we practice most of the time, there is still much fun to be had. As soon as I am done typing this, the team will be going to the beach. Luckily for me, this won't take that much courage...

Posted by Kyle Dunaway at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)