Bucknell University Athletics
A Competitor at Heart
1/14/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 14, 2008
By Jillian Jakuba, Bucknell Athletic Communications
Earlier this year when Grant Steadman left Lewisburg for summer break, he traded the calm chlorinated waters of Kinney Natatorium for the salty waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Instead of heading home to Richmond, Va., the senior swimmer headed to South Bethany, Del., where he spent the summer months working as a lifeguard and participating in various events as a member of South Bethany's ocean rescue competition squad.
"I found out about the opportunity in the spring," Steadman explains. "I didn't have a summer job yet and I was recruited by one of the Lieutenants on the squad. He was looking for Division I swimmers for their competition team and I took him up on it."
Steadman admits he didn't really know what to expect as far as the competition aspect was concerned or the training that went along with it. He soon found, although it was drastically different from his practices with the Bison, the intensity was the same.
"We did an hour of training every morning that we worked--things like running, swimming, and push-ups. We'd run as far as 5-6 miles on the sand, varying from soft sand, hard sand, sprints and distance. We also did in and outs, which consisted of running and swimming. We'd swim in 40 yards or so, run up to the beach, back down the beach and swim out 40 yards. There were also just straight swim exercises where we'd swim down the coast of the beach, swim relays, or swim around buoys. One training session, we did a workout called the `horizon swim', which consisted of swimming out towards the horizon for a half hour and then swimming back in for a half an hour. That was pretty intimidating because I'm afraid of sharks."
South Bethany participated in several events throughout the summer, which varied in the number of teams competing. Steadman recalls the largest amount being 11 squads at the Rehoboth Olympics, while the events contested changed each time, as well, consisting of anything from tug-of-war, to paddle boarding, to running and swimming.
"The competitions were pretty intense," describes Steadman. "There were some pretty serious athletes. I was surprised how seriously people took it."
Out of the five to nine total events at each competition, Steadman participated in a handful each time, primarily swimming, but also branched out to running and paddle boarding. A member of the 2007 All-Patriot League second team, Steadman has seen much success so far in his career with the Bison, however, the change in venue proved to be a challenge for him.
"I got beat pretty badly in the first competition, which really motivated me to pick up my training in the morning sessions," Steadman admits. "By the end of my time with South Bethany, my relay won the run-swim-run at the Rehoboth Olympics, which was awesome. I thought that was just about as rewarding as winning a relay at Bucknell."
Steadman faced another tough task upon rejoining the Bison in the fall as the time spent in the ocean over the summer affected his stroke.
"It was a completely different realm of swimming," explains Steadman. "In the ocean, there is a lot more power involved whereas I feel like collegiate swimming is more technique-oriented. Coming back here, it definitely took a while to fix my stroke and put my head down. I'm still working on that; it's probably going to be a challenge all season."
However Steadman feels what he gained from his summer with the lifeguard competition squad far outweighed the disadvantages.
"I definitely came back to Bucknell in better shape than I would have otherwise," Steadman says. "I have way more leg strength than if I had trained with a club team over the summer. My stroke definitely wasn't as good as when I've trained with a club team in a normal pool because of the waves and the fact that you can't really see your stroke in the ocean. But I was a lot stronger coming into this season, especially my legs from the running. My vertical leap increased a good three-to-four inches just from running in the sand."
Steadman, who is majoring in neuroscience and plans on going to dental school following graduation, also gained a new mental outlook that he has carried into his senior season with the Bison.
"My personal goal is to swim well and win races," Steadman states. "I really came away from the summer not really thinking about my times as much because they didn't take times at our competitions. It was more about just going out there and trying to win races. I really appreciate that a lot more after this past summer. Now I go into meets just thinking about having fun and racing and not really worrying about times so much. It's cool when you can say you posted a good time, but when it comes down to it, I swim sprints and I just really love the rush of competing against someone. There's no better feeling than to beat someone to the wall. If I obsess over times, I'm not going to enjoy it as much. I only have one more year left of my collegiate career so I'm just going to try and have fun and hopefully, win races."
