Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Athletics

Who would have thought that some kid who hadn’t swam before would be able to stick out four years of pain? Well I was definitely not one of them, but I sure am glad that I did because it has truly been a magnificent journey.

I would like to start by saying thank you to Danielle Braun. Danielle and I happen to be from the St. Cloud area, and met through mutual friends during my freshman year. It was convenient for us to ride share back St. Cloud during breaks, and it was during the ride home for thanksgiving break that we talked about me joining the swim team. I felt like I had a bunch of free time and I had always liked to swim, I had just never swum competitively before. After a week I thought that I was crazy, never had I been so sore in my life. The workload got a little easier for my body to bear, and I slowly became adjusted to waking up before sunrise. The end of the year came and I knew that I had made the best decision of my life to become a cardinal swimmer.

I have loved to see the progress that the team has made since I joined. We barely had enough people for a relay my freshman year and now we have a national qualifier on the team. The progress makes me feel lucky to be a member of the team.

To the guys my freshman year: Gerry: Never was there a dull moment around you and life would have never been the same if we both didn’t know almost every quote in the movie Heavy Weights. Brian- You have been a great friend over the four years I had as a member of the team, and I enjoyed sharing lane five with you for as long as we did. I love that we never had a day without seeing the lighter side of life with times like FMW and laughing at everything and anything.

To my fellow senior Eric, I am glad that you decided to transfer in from the U. You have been a good guy to have around and a good friend. Tom: You bring a great intensity to the team and I am glad you could swing into lane five this year. I hope that you can keep dusting the lane once I am out of there. John:? Keep it up, it was nice to swim with someone with natural talent, an area where I am lacking. Aaron: It is always nice to share a laugh with you.

Jen, Courtney and Angela: I am glad that you are good at seeing the humor in a good joke because I know that you have all been on the receiving end of all ours, thanks for being such great sports and cool people. I am glad that we worked together on ‘captain’-things so well and you have all done a great job.

To the freshman guys: Tinkerbell, Rex, Landfill and Neil, you are exactly the type of guys that need to carry on the cardinal swimmer tradition, keep up the good work and I expect great things out of all of you.

Coach: There are so many things that I should thank you for, but most of all thanks for giving a shot to a kid that wanted to swim for you not knowing what he was about to face. You were patient and I am grateful for the opportunity. It was nice having another outdoorsman and hockey fan to talk about last nights Wild game or time out in the blind or in the boat! You are always understanding and thanks for telling me to keep up the good work and letting me know things would get better, especially after this injury ridden senior season.
 
I have been lucky enough to have some great assistant coaches along the way and I would like to say thanks to Mic, Kaleb and Brian, again. You have all brought a different style of coaching to the team and have all been equally as great. Thanks for helping shape me into the swimmer that I am today.

I would like to thank my family, although you never had a big interest in my swimming career, you never discouraged me doing something that I wanted to do. I know that I was always gone a little bit longer on breaks, and would bring home massive piles of laundry that I did not have time to do, but you all helped my swimming career in some way.

I would like to thank all of the parents that have taken the time to host a meal or come to the meets. It was always nice to see familiar faces in the audience.

I would like to say thanks to all of the alumni. I have swum with some of you and talked with many others, it was always a treat when you could share stories about the ‘good ole days.’ Alumni are a valuable asset to the team, and I am glad that I will be joining a stellar group.