Growing Up    Accomplishments    My Heroes    Likes/Dislikes  

Where to start? I supposed that the best place would probably be my family, as they are the ones most responsible for the man (or boy depending on whom you talk to) I am today. I grew up in Missoula, MT in what I selfishly consider the best family in the World. I am the youngest of three children, with all of us being born two years after the last and a brother at the top and a sister in the middle.

Growing up I loved every sport I played, but swimming always came the easiest to me...and that's why I focused on all the others. I was a hyper competitive kid that hated, more than anything, to lose. So I would spend my days either on the basketball court, soccer field and, eventually, the golf course before I would consider going to the pool to workout. On top of wanting to avoid what came easiest, I also hated practice. It's not that I was a slacker, it was that, once again, I couldn't stand losing and I would often go into a well documented (by my brother and sister) temper tantrum when it happened. As a result, I knew that if I went to practice I would end up racing everyone on every set and be in a whole lot of hurt for that two hours. So, I was much more inclined (especially in the summer) to take off practice to play other sports or go fishing with my Dad.

This is where family came in too: my Dad is the one person that fixed my terrible temper. He pushed me towards fishing and golf in order to develop my patience which has played the second largest role in my athletic success. On that same note, they never, ever, under any condition forced me to go to practice. My Dad's response when I would tell him that I didn't want to go was always "sure, I don't think you need to" which translated to: "hey, this is your battle. If you don't want to go, then don't. But you have no one to blame but yourself if you don't succeed at the end of the season." The largest role in my success, however, was my Dad and Mom both deeply instilling in my brother, sister and I the need to remain "hungry" as they put it. Too many miiddle class kids these days settle for what's easy, because it's just that, and comfortable. My parents kept telling us that because we are middle class kids we had to work harder than everyone else, just because other people wanted it more as a result of their "needing" to succeed versus our "wanting" to do so. As such, from an early age I developed a tremendous work ethic which, combined with my Grandpa Sonny's athletic genes (he was an Italian immigrant that changed his name from Carlo Giorgi to Sonny O'Day in order to become a professional boxer in a sport dominated by the Irish), and my family's unconditional love and support, has led me to where I am today: A Harvard Graduate training for the Olympic Games.

Accomplishments

Here is a list of some of the accomplishments I am most proud of (chronologically):

Montana:

Tying my brothers 10&U 50 backstroke record: 31.98 holds special significance in our family.

Qualifying for Senior Nationals in the 100 backstroke my junior year of high school (49.88) then qualifying for Olympic Trials my senior year (57.33 in 100m). I was the first Montana high school swimmer to do both of these.

Harvard:

Being selected "Ironman" my freshmen year at Harvard. It's an award given every year to the freshmen who best upholds the ideals of Harvard swimming. The "reward" is swimming every heat of every event in a dual meet, including relays. Check it out if you don't believe it. I am pretty proud of that 1000.

Winning the EISL (Ivy League plus Navy) Team Championships my Freshmen and Junior Year.

Being selected CSCAA Academic All-American and ESPN First Team Academic All District.

And, individually, I am most proud of being named the William Bingham Award Winner, presented annually to "the senior male athlete, who through integrity, courage, leadership and ability on the athletic field, has best served the high purpose of Harvard as exemplified by William J. Bingham '16." This was probably the first time I had received acknowledgement outside of the swimming community, and I must say that I was completely taken aback by the honor.

Post-Grad:

Just missing the 200 free relay American Record, but setting a new Texas Pool record by swimming with Neil Walker, Dale Rogers and Ian Crocker (maybe I stacked my team, so what?).

Winning both the 100 and 200 backstroke at the 2007 Spring National Championships. I have to say it's pretty cool to be able to call myself a "National Champion."

Taking second at the 2007 Summer Nationals in the 100 back with a time of 53.82. That time makes me the 11th fastest performer of all time, as well as the sixth fastest American. It also would have won the 2004 Olympic Games.

My Heroes:

Growing up I think that everyone has a few people that they view as more than just people, but superhuman. Here is a short list of mine:

My Grandpa Sonny:

I know that my cousins and I on my mom's side all wanted to live up to the legacy my grandpa set. He came over from Italy with nothing, looked after his mom when his dad passed away, and literally had to fight to survive. He was an Italian boxer in an Irish sport and so decided to change his name from Carlo Giorgi to Sonny O'Day, and his birthday to St. Patrick's Day. He went on to fight 529 professional fights (likely more than that, as he often had to fight more frequently than was legally allowed), in centers such as Madison Square Garden. He returned to Montana, paid for my Grandma to go to college (the first one in either family) and become a teacher. His grandchildren have gone on to play football, volleyball, crew, water polo and swimming at the collegiate level.

My Brother and Sister:

My sister Lauren was always a hero of mine as well, as she has bailed me out of trouble more times than either of us would like to remember. She was the actually the best athlete out of us three. Swimming wasn't for her, but she was an all state basketball and volleyball player and decided to try something new, so in college she rowed for the A-10 Champion UMass Crew Team.

My brother was certainly superhuman to me, and everything he did I had to do better. There wasn't an option, I just had to do it. Again, he was and is a better athlete than me. His interests were always a little bit more varied than mine, as he wanted to pursue other sports and activities whereas I focused more on swimming by my sophomore year of high school. Still he competed in Swimming and Water Polo for Harvard University, and more than anyone, led me to attend that school.

He should be a hero to you as well, as he served our country in the Army for four years, which included a year tour of duty in Iraq.

David Berkoff:

Jim Hawbaker actually coached me longer than anyone in my life, but when he left my senior year Berkoff took the time away from his career and family to become my full time coach. Because of watching his "blastoff" (he used to go 35 meters underwater, and set the world record in the 100 back in '88) all I wanted to do growing up was have the fastest underwater kick of anyone I raced. As such, he influenced my style of racing more than anyone and I credit him the most for getting me to reach the "next level."

Neil Walker:

I didn't know Neil until I came to Texas, but I think that every kid growing up hears about one record that is just incomprehensible. For me, that was 44.9, his 100 backstroke American Record. I admired Neil for the fact he was also from a small town like me (Verona, Wisconsin) and just seemed like a great guy. What's so cool is that I now get the chance to train with him everyday, and he is every bit as nice of a guy as I could have imagined. He remains a great role model for kids growing up now.

Likes/Dislikes:

Let's just do this in list form, so first, what I love:

Swimming

Movies (short list): Scent of a Woman, Dead Poets Society, Groundhog Day, L'Auberge Espagnole, A River Runs Through It, Good Will Hunting, The Departed, Before Sunrise/Before Sunset, Godfather I & II, Supertroopers and Beer Fest, Shawshank Redemption, Die Hard, Out for Justice, The Great Escape, The 13th Warrior, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Love Actually, When Harry Met Sally (I'll stop listing how many romantic comedies I like to save some dignity), Hot Fuzz, Cyrano de Bergerac...

Reading (short list again): The Count of Monte Cristo, Call of the Wild, You Shall Know Our Velocity, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Survival in Auschwitz, Profiles of Courage, Collapse, A Clockwork Orange, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, A Long Way Gone...

Music: Paul Simon, Elliott Smith, Pearl Jam, Billy Joel, Frank Sinatra, Mason Jennings, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Van Morrison, Coldplay, Gotta Love the 80's (Journey, Lionel Richie, The Outfield), Bob Dylan, The Arcade Fire...

I love Montana, I love my family, my friends from home and school, my Harvard and Longhorn teammates, reading, fly-fishing, golfing, snowboarding (once I retire, I was forced to quit after some broken bones), water skiing on a lake early in the morning, Montana Micro-Brews, Goofing around on the guitary, and Cooking.

I hate Urban Sprawl, people that write off accomplishments by stating that they could do it (they just don't want to), the following movies: Mercury Rising and Artificial Intelligence. Actually that's about all I should probably put down, I swear I'm actually not a bitter person.