Juinor David Chao checks his time after finishing a race on Oct. 31. David was a member of Wash. U.'s 4x100 freestyle race against Emory. (Jared Bullock | Student Life)

When junior David Chao dove off the block to anchor Washington University’s 400 freestyle relay, he trailed the leader from University Athletic Association swimming titan Emory by nearly one second. What ensued was 100 yards of what Chao described as one of the best races of his Wash. U. career as he led the team of senior captain Dan Arteaga, freshman Mark Minowitz and junior Kartik Anjur to a UAA championship for the event. This week, all four relay champions are Student Life’s Male Athletes of the Week.

Student Life: How does it feel to be a UAA champion?
Dan Arteaga: It was actually kind of bittersweet because we had not done as well as expected in previous relays during the meet, but it was definitely a great moment when we did win that relay; it was something that we really needed at the end of the meet. It was a really good swim for all of us and it really did get us motivated, but it was unfortunate that it happened at the end of the meet and not the beginning of the meet.

SL: It seems like this relay has been the exciting race all year. Do you think this is your best relay, or does another stick out in your mind?
DA: Traditionally our 800 freestyle relay is our best relay, but we just don’t swim it in normal meets in season. Our 800 freestyle relay got third at nationals last year, and our 400 freestyle relay got touched out for fifth. It’s usually our second best relay. It’s always very close, too; we’ve had more than one relay that was close this year, with DePauw and a few other meets too—it came down to the last guy.
Student Life: Talk about your anchor leg at UAA championships.
David Chao: The meet itself started off really slow.Wwe weren’t really getting the times that we wanted, so progressively each day we were getting better and better. The 400 was the last event of the meet…I really wanted to end out the conference meet with a bang. We were behind for most of the relay for the first three legs. I dove in almost a second after the Emory anchor leg, and I love anchoring relays, I guess that’s my thing—I get so amped up for them. But when I saw that guy diving in front of me, there was no way I was going to let him win. I ended up beating him by half a second, so I was just really excited to look up at the scoreboard after I finished and see that I touched him out…I can swim well under pressure, and usually some of my best swims come under that. I think the reason for that is that I know the whole team is riding on my shoulders, and just the expectations of that can lead me to faster swims rather than just cracking under pressure.

Student Life: What are your goals for the rest of the season?
DC: Right now for us to make it to nationals, our relays have to be top 10…Our 400 free relay is ranked seventh, and 800 free relay is ranked eighth, and some teams haven’t swum their conference meets. They have the potential of knocking us down in the rankings…It’s kind of a waiting game to see how many of us will go to nationals, so what we’re going to do is this weekend is go to U. Chicago for kind of a last-chance meet, and we’re going to try and post faster times for the relays to try and send more guys to nationals. Right now that’s our top priority—to send as many guys to nationals as we can.

Michael Phelps (Christophe Guibbaud | Cameleon | Abaca Press| MCT CAMPUS)

Hot is a matter of opinion, and in my opinion, Michael Phelps, while an amazing swimmer, is not hot. His athletic feats are another story entirely. Speaking of his athleticism, no one could say that the man isn’t on fire. He is by far one of the greatest Olympians of our time. That is not my point. My point is that pure athleticism, while attractive, is not enough to make a person really and truly hot.

So what exactly goes into being hot? In our everyday lives, someone who is hot makes our eyes bulge out of our head and our hearts dance out of our chest via cartoon characters. It’s a person who makes you drool when you look at them. Unfortunately, this is not Michael Phelps.

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Physically, Phelps was designed to be an amazing swimmer, with the super-long torso, the huge feet, and arms longer than my entire body. He was created for the sport, if you will, and that shows up in his 14 gold medals. But I have grown up around swimmers and noticed that swimmers are built with a certain look. Michael Phelps takes that look to the next level. Unfortunately, that next level tends to seem a bit gawky. Let’s just say that when I’m watching him give a press conference, I’m thinking more about his amazing performance than his looks. In short, I’m not drooling. And that gawkiness is the nature of the beast; call it a byproduct of amazing natural talent. Add the goofy grin and, well, let’s just say he is no Jeremy Bloom (also a wonderful athlete and Olympian). In fact, it’s the goofy grin that takes him, for me, categorically away from hotness. I don’t get that thrown off by his proportions, although they always look a bit off. Instead, I find myself not wanting to look at the big ears, semi- vacant eyes, and cockeyed grin. Phelps’ body is attractive, no doubt, but the face… Personally, I’d rather watch the time clock.

I have been and will remain in awe of Phelps’s swimming abilities. He is by far one of the greatest athletes ever to grace a swimming pool. I admire his dedication to the sport. But Phelps, while perhaps the hottest swimmer around, is not an all-around-hot person. I hope his gold medals and goofy grin can forgive me that.

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Michael Phelps (Christophe Guibbaud | Cameleon | Abaca Press| MCT CAMPUS)

Michael Phelps is hot. Now, when I tell people this, I’m always surprised about the negative reactions I get. Is it just me, or has Phelps suffered from fair-weather fans of his attractiveness? I didn’t hear anyone calling Phelps ugly when he was on the medal stand. What’s not to like about the greatest Olympian of all time?

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Sorry, I’ll repeat that point for emphasis, just in case your memory of August 2008 has slipped away: Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time. His performance at the 2008 Olympics was nothing short of amazing. Summarizing what he did in an article like this almost seems an insult to how significant his feats were—not just to swimming, but to the Olympics and to all sports. He earned a gold medal in each of his eight events, thrilled the world with a 0.01-second victory over Millard Cavic in the 100 butterfly, and swam a leg of the 4×100 freestyle relay that stunned the seemingly unbeatable French. Phelps was able to put American audiences normally captivated by football, baseball and basketball on the edge of their seats, as they cheered swimmers to victories by hundredths of seconds. In his pursuit of Olympic greatness, Phelps set seven world records. The aftermath of Phelps’ success in Beijing helped revitalize swimming, and increased membership in member clubs of USA swimming by the thousands.

Millions of people were in such awe of his abilities for those few weeks of the summer, that it overshadowed something that for most seemed unforgettable: six gold medals at the Athens Olympics four years earlier. It was those Olympics that turned Phelps into a household name. Phelps became a sensation just as I started swimming competitively, and he not only reinforced my passion for the sport, but redefined what it means to be a dedicated swimmer. He achieved world-class times by taking on arguably the strictest training schedule known—he didn’t take a day off for five years straight. 1,825 consecutive days in the water.

Nitpick all you want about his goofy smile or extra-long torso; Phelps has some extraordinary physical qualities, not to mention some of the most impressive athletic talent in history, and that puts him among the hottest sportsmen (well, all men).

One of my best friends once told me that you could dial 911 on good abs. If you’re in a state of emergency, Michael Phelps is your guy. Maybe it comes from the tens of thousands of yards he swims daily training for various international competitions, or it’s the product of what swimmers refer to as “dry land” training—weights, running, strengthening exercises. Whatever it is, you would be hard pressed to find a set of abs better than Phelps’. When do you stop counting “packs” anyway? Six? Eight? Twelve? Only a body of Phelps’ caliber can make the alien-like Speedo LZR racing suit look attractive.

How about a little scientific data for the doubters? Where can you find such data? On Facebook, of course. If you’re a fan of Phelps, as I am, you can see his profile pictures. On one insanely cute, off-center head shot of Phelps, there are 50 comments, all informing Michael how attractive he is. If the 50 comments aren’t enough, 815 people thought the picture was pleasing enough to like it.

You think Phelps is ugly? Tell that to his 14 gold medals.

Click here to read the opposing viewpoint

Of course, the first and foremost objection that comes to mind is that what Phelps did was illegal. This is fine and true: People acting as role models should refrain from breaking the law. Even so, we would not care if Phelps blew a stop sign, even though both acts are illegal. Hell, nobody cared nearly as much when Phelps blew a DUI, even though a DUI is far worse than smoking pot—at least Phelps did not endanger anyone else’s life smoking reefer off the streets, away from harm. Rather, the main issue at stake here remains remarkably clear: We simply perceive marijuana consumption as inherently more immoral than alcohol consumption. The fact remains that Phelps shouldn’t have to apologize for his pot consumption any more than he should have to apologize for drinking alcohol (so long as he doesn’t drive). At the end of the day, Michael Phelps did not do anything immoral: He did not harm any individual, even himself, (if we are to believe the medical research done on the negligible health effects of marijuana), and while we may find many of his actions disgusting or uncomfortable—imagine a tabloid shot of Phelps masturbating—we have no room to justifiably assert that Michael’s marijuana use is a matter of public morality.

Of course, this is not to dodge the main issue: Michael Phelps shouldn’t have gotten caught smoking pot. Anyone in a position of prominence in the media should always make sure to keep any unsavory actions, whether immoral or merely distasteful, away from the public eye, and when someone gets caught, they have nobody to blame but themselves. What Phelps should have apologized for was not smoking pot, but getting caught smoking pot. And ultimately, this makes sense: He wasn’t taking steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. If anything, the pot smoked would only (in theory) hurt his lung capacity. Phelps’ actions had nothing to do with his athleticism, and for that we should praise him equally for his athleticism. But if we are to sincerely revere him as an athlete, then we shouldn’t care about what he does outside of the pool that does not affect him inside of the pool. To be sure, Michael Phelps is a pot smoker. But he should be a proud pot smoker.

This event was the Bears’ last competition of the fall season and is considered their most important meet behind the University Athletic Association and NCAA championships. In preparation for the invitational, the team “tapered,” reducing the amount of yardage in workouts at practice each day leading up to the meet.

“We decrease our yardage and kind of rest for the meet,” senior captain Jessie Lodewyk said. “It’s really a mental thing. Mentally and physically you just start to get really hyped up about the swim meet. When you get there it’s all mental, really preparing and racing hard. We definitely attacked our races and really stepped up our performance.”

Senior captain Alex Beyer’s first place finish in the 500 freestyle of 4:27.07 and a time of 3:58.43 in the preliminary race for the 400 individual medley earned him two NCAA automatic qualifying times.

“Overall it was a pretty decent meet; times were decent,” Beyer said. “We’re still not at where we want to be at the end of the season, so we have a lot of work left to do.”

The team capped off the meet with a first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay that earned an NCAA provisional cut, as well as a new meet and pool record. The relay squad of Beyer, senior captain Dan Arteaga, freshman Mark Minowitz and junior David Chao finished the race in 3:04.02.

Two additional relays earned NCAA provisional cuts: the 200 freestyle relay of Arteaga, Beyer, freshman Brendan Morin and Chao, and the 400 medley relay of junior Kartik Anjur, Beyer, Arteaga and Chao. Both were first-place finishes.

The women’s squad placed fourth out of six teams, but earned four NCAA provisional cuts at the meet. Lodewyk led the Bears with two cuts, placing first in the 200 freestyle and finishing runner-up in the 500 freestyle. “I was really excited about my times,” Lodewyk said. “I’ve historically had a really bad Wheaton meet, so I was really excited to go those times at mid-season. I had someone to race against the whole meet, and that’s when I swim my best.”

Junior Karin Underwood won the 200 backstroke and earned a provisional cut with her time of 2:08.10 in the preliminary race. Freshman Meg Powers also finished first with a time of 59.52 in the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Karina Stridh was runner-up in the 100 backstroke, and her preliminary time of 59.63 also qualified for a provisional cut.

“We had some really good swims,” Lodewyk said. “There were some people that stepped up in a really big way…People took it up to the next level and performed the way they needed to perform.”

The Bears return to competition on Jan. 8. Their dual meet with Lindenwood University will be hosted at the Millstone Pool and is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Senior co-captain Jessie Lodewyk’s NCAA provisional cut in the 1,650-yard freestyle highlighted a strong weekend of Washington University swimming. The men placed fifth while the women took third at the Washington University Thanksgiving Invitational meet on November 20 and 21.

Lodewyk earned the top spot in the mile with a 17:47.25 performance, and took third place in both the 200 and 500-freestyle. “The mile’s a really funny race. Everyone has a different style,” Lodewyk said. “It pushes you to do things differently.”

The Bears’ competition came from several states and NCAA divisions. Teams included Division I University of Evansville, IUPUI, Colorado School of Mines, Hannibal-Lagrange, Saint Louis University (DI), Lindenwood University (DII), Albion College and Ohio Wesleyan University. According to senior captain Alex Beyer, some of the other teams had tapered for the meet, while Wash. U. will wait to do so in preparation for Wheaton.

“[We are at] a tough stage in our schedule…[Wheaton] is our most important meet other than conference and nationals,” Beyer, the winner in the 500 freestyle and runner-up in the 200 breaststroke said.

The men’s squad claimed some of the top spots in the sprint freestyle races. Junior David Chao was third in the 50-freestyle and the top performer in both the 100 and 200 freestyle, while senior captain Dan Arteaga was fourth in the 50 and 100 races. Chao noted that effort in his turns helped in the races.

“It took us awhile to get pumped up,” Chao said. “Our main focus is the meet in two weekends.”

The Bears were successful in distance events. In the men’s heat, sophomore Chris Valach won the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:37.66 and fifth in the 500-freestyle.

Sophomore Karina Stridh and freshman Meg Powers each earned second place finishes for the team, Stridh in the 50 freestyle and Powers in the 200-butterfly. According to Lodewyk, the Bears were boosted by performances from junior Micki Duncan, sophomore Erika Antisdale and sophomore Kerri Blumer. Blumer placed eleventh in the 500-freestyle, an event she normally does not compete in.

“I was really, really excited,” Blumer said of the race. “I’ve been having trouble [in other events], I wanted to switch things up.”

The spirited squad stayed at the meet until the last Wash. U. swimmer, sophomore Evan Dorshorst, finished his mile swim.

“I feel really special…you get the entire team behind you. It definitely pumps you up,” Dorshorst said.

The Bears next competition is the Wheaton Invitational on Dec. 4-5 in Wheaton, Ill. where the Red and Green hope to submit several automatic and provisional qualifying times in various events.

-With additional reporting by Johann Qua Hiansen

Junior David Chao gazes at the scoreboard after winning the 400 freestyle relay, giving the Bears the overall victory at Saturday’s meet versus Southern Illinois University Carbondale. (Jared Bullock | Student Life)

Hometown: Paoli, Pa.
Major: Mechanical Engineering

Junior David Chao was the lone Washington University swimmer to win an individual event against Division I SIU-Carbondale on Oct. 30. Chao won the 200-yard freestyle against DePauw and swam the anchor leg in a 400 free relay that was decided by a second on Oct. 31. His accomplishments in the pool have earned him Athlete of the Week honors.

Student Life: Talk about the 400 free relay against DePauw.

David Chao: We knew it was going to come down to that relay. We all got in a huddle and said how we had to win this. When the third guy jumped in, I was already pretty excited. My adrenaline was pumping. When I get on the blocks, I usually look to the guys next to me just to get me more pumped up and saying ‘This is the guy I need to beat.”

Marc (Minowitz, Wash. U. freshman) got a good lead for me. I’m sure I would have been even more excited if it was close. I was actually kind of worried [DePauw’s John Cook] would have caught me. His best time is probably a second faster than mine. He should have won the race. I guess I stepped it up more than him. I love swimming under pressure.

When I dove in, it was no problem. My arms were turning really fast. My adrenaline was pumping. My leg started dying on the last 25. I was like ‘I better not lose this’. I was gritting my teeth and holding on for dear life. I looked up at the scoreboard and everyone was cheering.

SL: What are the season goals?

DC: Top two at UAAs, top four at NCAAs and top GPA in the nation. A big one was when one person is on the blocks, everyone is on the blocks. When one person is on the blocks, everyone’s cheering. We’re trying to do everything to succeed as a team.

SL: What do students miss out on by not going to Wash. U. meets?

DC: They’re missing out on seeing how excited part of the Wash. U. community that is the swimmers gets so excited for each other. They’ll be surprised to see how close some meets come down especially the last event. You’ll be winning one time losing the other time.

I got a text from one of my friends who lived on my freshman floor. She was like ‘that was my first time at a Wash. U. swim meet. I never expected it to be that crazy or intense’. You wouldn’t expect a swim meet to be that intense. A lot of the races are pretty close. That just makes for a very exciting and loud atmosphere in the pool.

SL: What would be your fun event?

DC: My fun event is definitely the 100 breast. Brad [Shively, head coach] and the entire team know that the breaststroke is definitely my weakest stroke and they all make fun of me for it. Last year in one of our meets against Principia, he put me in the 100 breast and I actually did pretty well. I won it. Everyone started kidding around saying I should start training. My goal is to break a minute the next time I swim it.

SL: What’s been your most memorable race?

DC: The 800 free relay at Nationals last year. Kevin Leckey was the anchor. When he dove in, we weren’t in third. I think we were fifth or sixth. The other guys on the team were Alex Beyer and Chris Valach. We were all so pumped. Even though we were so tired from swimming our part of the race, we had enough energy to go all out and cheer for him. When he touched and we saw that we got third, that was one of the best feelings that I’ve had in a Wash. U. race.

The Bears’ next meet is the Washington University Thanksgiving Invitational on Nov. 21.

Senior Alex Beyer competes in the 200 breaststroke. Beyer took first in this event, the 400 IM and was part of the first place 400 freestyle relay team. The men defeated DePauw 151-147. (Jared Bullock | Student Life)

With a first-place finish in Saturday’s last event, the 400 freestyle relay, the men secured a 151-147 win, while the women’s squad bested the Tigers, 155-129.

“The guys came through with a really solid swim. That’s a good way to finish it,” head coach Brad Shively said. “[There was] competitiveness in the relays. I liked seeing the relays out there fighting and scrapping, getting a little down and dirty. I think that’s the sign of a team that’s got some grit.”

The relay, comprised of senior Dan Arteaga, freshman Mark Minowitz, senior Alex Beyer and junior David Chao, finished the close race less than one second ahead of DePauw’s ‘A’ relay in 3:10.07.

“I’m a huge relay swimmer; I get really pumped up especially on anchor leg,” Chao said. “We had to win that relay to win the meet, so I kind of like the pressure.”

The men’s team took first place in seven events in addition to the winning relay and the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Chris Valach won the 1,000 and 500 freestyles. Seniors Beyer and Dima Galkin claimed first and second place in the 200 breaststroke.

Beyer also won the 400 individual medley. Chao took the top spot in the 200 freestyle, and fellow junior Michael Flanagan swept the butterfly events. Chao was also the lone Wash. U. swimmer to win an event against SIUC, taking the 100 freestyle in 47.40.

“We got a couple of victories against two very good teams…I thought it was great. We swam a meet last night, and [the team] didn’t make any excuses,” Shively said. “I thought we swam a lot tougher today than we did [against SIUC]. I just thought we were really competitive, really combative out there.”

The women’s team had victories in 10 events, and several swimmers claimed two individual races. Senior captain Jessie Lodewyk took both distance freestyle events, and sophomore Karina Stridh won the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle. Three new Bears won events: Freshman Meg Powers swept the butterfly events, Sarah Paleg won the 1-meter diving, and Veronica Tse won the 200 freestyle. Powers expressed excitement for the team’s future events.

“I’m pumped. This is really fun,” Powers said. “We’re definitely very good at getting pumped up…We’re really good at having men’s and women’s [teams] working together.”

Shively noted the teams’ consistency as a key to the wins. With two dual meets in two days, the team worked on moving swimmers in different events to test its strengths.

“I don’t think there’s an event that we have where we are great, and we’re trying to make sure that any event that we’re pretty good at, if it’s a strength, it stays a strength,” Shively said. “We’re also trying to shore up, and we swam people in a lot of different things between [SIUC] and [DePauw] to try and figure out what we have.”

The Bears continue competition on Nov. 21 at the Washington University Thanksgiving Invitational.

“Overall we did pretty well: The guys only lost one event, the 100 backstroke…I guess we’re all very glad with our swims for the most part,” senior captain Dan Arteaga said. “We swim against [SLU] every year; they’re great competitors.”

Three male swimmers were double event winners during the Bears’ 142-95 defeat of the Billikens. Senior Alex Beyer claimed the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle, junior David Chao won the 100 and 200 freestyles, and Arteaga took the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly.

“I was pretty happy with all my swims. Especially since I didn’t swim as much as I should have [over] the summer,” Arteaga said. “I felt good in the water…We’re also kind of starting to build up and really start training hard this month: start lifting a lot more, getting more yardage, just training harder.”

The team claimed both first and second places in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly, with junior Michael Flanagan placing behind Beyer and Arteaga. With a first-place time of 1:26.46 in the 200 freestyle relay, freshman Brendan Morin, Arteaga, Beyer and Chao finished the meet’s dominant performance.

“Getting up there and going fast [is a challenge], but once you get over that, it’s all easy I guess,” Arteaga said.

Senior captain Jessie Lodewyk was the only individual event winner for the women’s squad as SLU finished ahead of the Bears 164-70. Lodewyk finished first in the 1,000 and 500 freestyles with times of 11:00.94 and 5:24.66, respectively. The team had several second-place finishes, including two by freshmen.

“[The meet] was really exciting. It’s always nice to see new talent, everyone together as a team for the first time,” Lodewyk said. “It’s really neat because each team has a different dynamic. I was really excited, really pumped up; it was a really good first meet.”

Lodewyk noted that the meet occurred close to the team’s official start of practice, and the Bears will continue to intensify training for future meets.

“Just working and getting into better physical condition, just really working on our aerobic base,” Lodewyk said. “And then definitely you always want your team closer, more motivated, just really psyching up and getting prepared for our big meets this season—keeping in mind the long-range goals. That’s our big focus.”

The Bears’ next meet is the Show-Me Showdown on Oct. 10-11 at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The Bears also earned first place overall, with the combined men’s and women’s score of 1,586.5.

“They showed a lot of grit this weekend,” Head Coach Brad Shively said.

The Wash. U. women started off strong, with sophomores Claire Henderson and Karin Underwood and freshmen Catherine Rafferty-Millett and Karina Stridh grabbing second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:52.16. Senior Kelly Kono, freshman Samantha Schulte, junior Jessie Lodewyk and freshman Amy VanLishout captured first through fourth places in the 500-yard freestyle event.

Underwood then took first in the 200-yard backstroke, Stridh took the 100-freestyle and Underwood, Schulte, Valishout and Lodewyk won the 800-yard freestyle relay to give Wash. U. the lead after day one.

Day two featured much of the same, with Lodewyk and Schulte earning both first and second in the 1,650-yard freestyle, swimming respective times of 17:52.08 and 17:54.56. The Bears also finished first in the 400-meter freestyle relay, clinching first place in the last event.

“I think it was a really nice way to wrap up our last home meet of the year,” Kono, a co-captain, said. “I was just really proud that the girls’ team stepped it up and won the meet. We lost by 10 points to DePauw University at the beginning of the season.”

The Wash. U. men proved to be equally competitive, with senior Kevin Leckey, juniors Alex Beyer and Dan Arteaga and sophomore David Chao out-touching Lindenwood University in the very first event to snatch second place by 0.59 seconds.

Beyer and freshman Chris Valach raced first and second in the 500-yard freestyle, as the men also took a day-one lead in the meet.

On day two, senior Charles Stewart, Leckey, Arteaga and Chao took the 200-meter freestyle relay, Beyer took the 400-meter individual medley and Chao took the 200-meter freestyle. The Bears ended the meet with a victory over Missouri S&T in the 400-meter freestyle relay but finished in second place for the meet by more than 100 points.

“I was just happy about how competitive they were this weekend,” Shively said.

The team finishes the regular season with a dual meet against Principia College on Friday. The Bears then travel to the University of Chicago for the UAA Championship meet on Feb. 11-14 before the Midwest Invitational and finally the NCAA Championship meet.

“I hope it did a lot for their confidence…I’m very excited about UAAs,” Shively said.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

WU SWIMMING

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