ORWICH – Some of greatest swimmers in U.S. history came from a small-town background and out of the spotlight. Ian Crocker can attest to that, and he told his story to local youths Sunday morning.
Crocker, along with Olympic swimming hopeful Madison Kennedy, stopped in at Norwich High School’s Echentile Pool for the Mutual of Omaha Breakout Swim Clinic, hosted by the Greater Chenango Aquatics Team.
Dozens of young swimmers ages 8-18 turned out to hear Crocker’s and Kennedy’s motivational messages, while also picking up some techniques from perhaps the most accomplished swimmers to ever walk the NHS pool’s deck.
And the messages were well worth hearing. Crocker won Olympic gold medals in three separate Olympic Games, and held the world record in the 100-meter butterfly from 2003-2009. This from a young man who grew up in the state of Maine, not your typical swimming hotbed. “I grew up swimming in these small, dingy, dark dungeon-type pools, and from there, I ended up qualifying for my first Olympic team (in 2000),” Crocker said. “To get to that level, it’s not necessarily the facility you have or the number of outstanding athletes in your area, it’s really about your own personal goals and what it takes to get there. You don’t know where the path can lead you in the long run, especially if you stay true to what you’re looking for.”
Crocker retired from competitive swimming after the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and has remained busy running swimming clinics, and most recently joined Mutual of Omaha’s Breakout Swim Clinic team at the behest of company owner Josh Davis. Davis, who has substantial ties to the swimming community, also called on Kennedy.
Kennedy, a 2009 World University Games gold medalist, made the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, but narrowly missed qualifying for the London Games. She is still training, though, with the aim at qualifying for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She presently swims 6,000 yards a day, four hours a day, six days a week. That one day off a week – this week, at least – she is spending in Norwich where she can impart some of her own wisdom and lessons learned from the sport. The clinic also serves a dual purpose, she said. “Coming out to these clinics, you get to see the excitement on the kids’ faces,” Kennedy said. “It really reminds me of the greatest parts of the sport, and why I got into it. It’s a great environment with great people.”
In just the four hours allotted for the clinic, Crocker said he won’t attempt to reinvent the wheel for his young students. His goal, and Kennedy’s, is to share his story and provide motivation for perhaps the next great American swimmer. “We want to convey our stories, and let the kids know that the people they see on TV, they aren’t any different than they were,” Crocker said. “Madison and I very much remember being in their shoes.”