Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Swimming and Diving Blog - Nathaniel Frye
1/24/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 24, 2012
Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport... the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat... the human drama of athletic competition... This is Wide World of Sports! And this week- Bison Swimming!
As I sit here writing this piece for the newsletter, it is hard to believe the season has entered the realm of a new year. It seems like yesterday that the team had over 180 days until Patriots. Now, with some 40 days left, what a journey the last 140 days have been. Beginning back in August, the returning members of the team welcomed a very talented bunch to the family. From the perspective of the guys' team, the addition of new members was welcomed warmly, and it became evident very quickly that we had a very close-knit team. We trained hard for a month before we welcomed the UMBC Retrievers into our home, and out of the gates, the Bison came roaring. We witnessed a very successful first meet of the year, and we knew that it was a great precursor to the rest of the year. Since that first meet in October, we have had four other meets. After a win and great meet against George Washington, we traveled to the Naval Academy, where we were able to swim a meet in the long-course meter fashion against Navy, American, and Lafayette. Again, we saw some great swimming, which we carried forward into our mid-season meet at Bucknell. After a few days of rest, we swam lights out! At the completion of the meet, we found ourselves champions of the invitational. Then, only two weeks later, we found ourselves in Philadelphia, anxious at redemption of the meet we barely lost to La Salle a year before. Again, the Bison showed up and we came home yielding a record of 3-1, with the only loss coming at the hands of the Midshipmen.
To those that know a deal of swimming history, the name Don Schollander will probably ring a bell. To those that do not know who he is, Don Schollander won a total of five gold medals and one silver medal at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics in swimming. As I anticipated our training trip to Florida, I could not stop thinking of a Schollander quote my high school swim coach once shared with me. Don once said, "You learn the pain in practice and you will know it in every race...at the threshold of pain, you have a choice. You can back off, or you can force yourself to drive to the finish knowing the pain will become agony...Most swimmers back away from the pain, but a champion pushes himself into agony." I knew that the training coming in Florida would be very extreme and challenging, and if I had to speculate, I bet the team knew the same would be coming to all of them as well. As speculated, the training was very intense, but at the culmination of the week, our team defined what Schollander had quoted decades before. The determination, pain, ambition, drive, vengeance, etc. that the team swam with reflected why the Bison swimmers are "champions" in the sense that Don once described. Never before have I been so proud and ecstatic at how a week of training went, and with the season championships looming in the future, only great things can come from the season's beginning and training camp.
Whether the members of the team find their championship to be at Patriots or ECACs, I am firm in stating that the Bison will be ready once they walk into LeJeune Hall to wreak havoc in the water. With our team goals in mind, I know each swimmer will swim out of his suit and will put numbers on the scoreboard that will bring a smile to everyone's face. For those seniors on the team: Stuffin, Nimchimski, Soko, Segar, Dingus, Gonzo, and myself, it is our last hurrah, and I know that we will look back upon not only championship season, but also a season filled with so many high points and great moments that we will never forget the experiences that our team as a family have lived through. In closing, let the words of Olympic Coach Herb Brooks speak to you, because they will surely be speaking to us.
"Great moments are born from great opportunities" -Herb Brooks
