Don't Let It Pass You

This weekend was a pretty big one for the world of swimming. The sport's most recognizable icon, for both extraordinary and forgivable feats, was back in the spotlight, again dragging the globe's attention by his coattails. It is difficult to find someone that has been talked about more over these last nine months than Mr. Michael Phelps. Transcending a once-in-four-year event into, at least on this weekend, a festival and celebration of swimming.

Never mind the DUI charges and marijuana obsessions and possible allegations with his interests in the opposite sex. Whether you are a novice or expert in the field of aquatic competition, you know Phelps as the most dominant figure in any Olympic-caliber sport. This weekend marked his return to the sport at the Charlotte UltraSwim.

What you may not know is UltraSwim is a meet that, although requires strong qualifying times, is open to any swimmer with such high marks. To put it in comparison, the cuts are not as swift as those on the NCAA qualifying level (i.e. slower) and many college swim team bring their entire squads to this competition to put a bow on their fine seasons (see Auburn and Florida.)

Last year, two of Davidson's swimmers trained for UltraSwim, stayed past the campus' graduation, and participated with some these very elite competitors. Their racing foes may not have had names ending in Phelps, but there were some on the Olympic level, for sure. The pageantry of being at the meet in 2008 might not have been as attractive as it was this May, but it was still a checkpoint and a privilege to represent the school.

In late February, Phelps announced he would be coming to Charlotte and many Olympic-caliber talent followed. UltraSwim was plenty creditable, but now it had the world's attention, as well as the casual fans that don't suffer from short-term memory loss who can piece together the equations, "Phelps - that fast guy those one all of those medals who hits the bong."

If you're still reading this far, you might think the purpose of the entry is to talk about Phelps or swimming or Charlotte or how there was a NASCAR race here this weekend. Actually, this entry is to commend Bryan Droll and Patrick Whitman.

Who are Bryan Droll and Patrick Whitman?

Droll and Whitman are two rising juniors on the Wildcat swim team that had breakthrough sophomore seasons. Both arrived two seasons ago as walk-ons, one four years removed from the sport and the other as raw as a walking tenderloin. By the time both were finished with this past season, they could gaze up at the Davidson record board and spot their names on multiple occasions. Both gentlemen hold stock in the exuberance the men's team has been energized with over the course of this season. Their hunger for racing and desire to be students of the sport is both respectable and respected.

Davidson's swim schedule culminated as a team on February 21st and the spring season, while guided by the coaches, was at the mercy of the student-athletes desires. Individual's goals were to serve as a compass for performance in March, April and May. Many of the swimmers have been training quite diligently with intentions of fulfilling time standards, improving on last season's missteps or just avoiding the 20 pound weight game that comes from simply avoiding intense exercise for three months. Many chose to take a more casual approach to their training and preparation (you may now draw your own conclusions...)

Droll and Whitman took it to another level mentally - something that might just have been missing from a majority of our swimmers. They did not necessarily work harder than everyone or put in more time in the pool. These two dared themselves to use their speed and challenge themselves against some of the best competition in the world.

Now imagine in ten years you looking back on your swimming career and you get to boast "I swam against Michael Phelps less than one year after he won eight gold medals." People would DIE to be IN THE SAME BUILDING AS A HOT DOG VENDOR if he knew Michael Phelps were in their presence. Think about it - would you ever pass the chance to volley with Roger Federer or learn a floor routine with Shawn Johnson or play best ball with Tiger Woods? The only catch to those opportunities would be:

1) a disregard of your ego

2) a slightly more disciplined approach to your training when others may not join you

3) onions

Droll's weekend was especially compelling and boastful. You MUST watch the clip of his 50 free finals race from May 15th. Of all of the swimmers in the heat, listen to who they focus on (the race is pretty good, too.) The fact that this young man made it to a finals race in the biggest swimming event on the planet at this given moment is both life-changing and program-changing.

You probably won't hear about Droll on the evening news or even the Davidson news - you might not be able to tell that our Sports Information Department does not put swimming on its list of sports to follow, understand or communicate with unless authorized to. Droll won't wither you with his arrogance or prefer special treatment from those around him. But he and Whitman did swim next to the greatest swimmer EVER in the 50 and 100 freestyles - check out the results of just how close he was.

UltraSwim will return to Charlotte in exactly one year. I'm sure it wishes it could commit to those top-end Olympians now to attract the sensational buzz it created for the last three months. Kudos to Droll and Whitman for understanding the magnitude of the opportunity and taking full advantage of it. I boldly predict that you'll see more Wildcats in this meet - thanks to Droll, they would not want to let an opportunity like this pass them by.