Hometown: Sheridan, Wy
I am currently living in Scottsdale, AZ
I was recruited by Coach Palm…twice.
The first time was during my senior year of high school in 1974-75. When my high school coach got the head coaching job at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. I declined Coach Palm’s offer and went to swim at Wyoming my freshman year. After getting my butt kicked swimming at the NCAA Division I level, I decided that maybe college and college swimming was not for me, so I left school after my freshman year and returned to Sheridan.
The second time was in the summer of 1977 when Coach and Dean Hawks stopped by on their way to one of Coach’s swim camps in Casper. After my “gap” year from college I realized that I could do more with my life, so I jumped at Coach’s second chance offer.
I had an 8’ by 30’ trailer that I had purchased and “remodeled” while living in Sheridan, so I towed that across Wyoming, South Dakota and MN to Marshall. Coach had made prior arrangements for me to have a spot in the trailer park across the street from Taco John’s…and the all-important Marshall Liquor Store. My first year at Southwest was my sophomore year in college…I suspect that I may have been the only homeowner in my class.
Swimming Memories before Southwest #1: Six-time individual state champion in high school and member of two state championship teams in 1973 and 1974. We trained in a “state of the art” four lane pool at the local YMCA. The starting blocks were not attached to the deck, they were just big fiberglass blocks that required a teammate or a couple of the girl timers to sit on the black of the block during the start of a race so that the blocks would not fall in the water when the “take your marks” command was given. Not sure if Dave Broyle’s Cheyenne team ever came to Sheridan for a dual meet but I am pretty sure that Dean Hawks and his team from Casper did, along with Kevin Tripp from Cody and Ron Elwood from Powell.
Swimming Memories before Southwest #2: Meeting my Wyoming coach 9 months after leaving school when he told me that I had earned a varsity letter and when he gave me a letter jacket from the University of Wyoming. Over the years, I have trained with a lot of swimmers who swam at big name colleges and a few Olympians. I have always been especially proud of the fact that I lettered at a DI school as a freshman.
Swimming Memories at Southwest #1: Breaking a minute in a 100 kick during warm-up at an afternoon practice. No fins and no over water arm pulls going into the turns. Just me and my kickboard.
Swimming Memories at Southwest #2: Being part of “The Gas Pump” adventure.
Swimming Memories at Southwest #3: Weekend at Craig Porter's family's cabin in the spring quarter of 1978. We made the mistake(?) of stopping at a liquor store before stopping at the grocery store. By the time we got to the grocery store, we only had enough money left for a couple loaves of bread and some cold cuts. By the end of the weekend, we had finished the beer, but we still had food left. Not sure why, but a couple of people brought their .22 rifles along. To minimize the chance of a friendly fire injury, Jim Norton, risked his life by taking a couple of empty beer bottles out on the frozen lake so that we could use them for target practice…and hopefully have all the guns aimed in the same direction...away from teammates. The lake was starting to thaw so at the end of the weekend, we decided to forego the deposit and leave the bottles on the lake. On the way back, we stopped at the Bemidji campus and snuck into one of the dorms to use their showers. On the way out, a Bemidji swimmer recognized us and started to yell. We were able to escape to our cars and headed back to Marshall.
Swimming Memories at Southwest #4: Going to the pool every weekday at lunch with Steve Binder in February of 1978 for two weeks before taper started to get in a few extra yards…because 3 hours a day in the pool was just not enough for us distance swimmers. (Jon Stewart recommended this. He was not in school but was still living in Marshall) Each day, we did 6 x 500 on a 6 minute interval and averaged 5:25 per swim…so we had a generous 35 seconds rest between each swim.
Swimming Memories at Southwest #5: Being a co-captain with Dave Wolter for the 1979-80 season which turned out to be the last year that Southwest had a team.
Swimming Memories after Southwest #1: Swimming 100 x 100 long course in a 50-meter pool on Christmas Eve in 1993 with the local age group team…outdoors.
Swimming Memories after Southwest #2: At the first masters meet I swam in at a country club pool in Tucson, the last event of the meet was a beer relay. You had to swim to the other end of the 25-yard pool, jump out and then chug a cup of beer before diving back in for the second 25. I had briefly forgotten everything I learned at Southwest and foolishly spilled most of my (free) beer in an attempt to win the race. I figured that I was already wet, no one was going to be able to tell how much beer I actually consumed. First thought after the meet…”So, this is masters swimming?”
Swimming Memories after Southwest #3: Maintaining my “Potential” All-American status by placing in the top 10 at the masters short course national meets in two different years when they were held here in the Phoenix area. Once in the 1000 Free and once in the 1650.
Swimming Memories after Southwest #4: I was never able to master the skill of diving in from the starting blocks without my goggles coming off, so I have never swum a race with goggles at any time my entire life.
Swimming Memories after Southwest #5: Meeting Denny Dayhuff, for the first time, in the locker room at a pool here in Scottsdale in the 90’s. Denny had joined the team for a morning workout and someone in the locker room asked Denny if he had swum in college. Denny replied, “Yes, I swam at a small school that you probably never heard of, Southwest State University.” I was totally shocked when I heard that. I immediately went over and introduced myself and told Denny that I had seen his picture on the wall in the gym at Southwest as the FIRST All-American at the university. Denny eventually returned to MN, but we have kept in touch and become good friends over the years. I have traveled to MN many times and we often get together for a mini reunion at Denny’s favorite Caribou Coffee shop.
Swimming Memories after Southwest #6: Reconnecting with (B.I.) Mike Halder who was the team’s student manager for the 78-79 team. While at Southwest Mike was a constant member of our social group, hanging out with us in the Student Center and at Earth II. Mike always wanted to jump off the 3-meter board, but he was afraid of heights. So, one day, I went up on the 3-meter board with him and we jumped off together. Mike lives in Bloomington and I always try to stop by for a visit when I am in the cities. We also keep in touch by text and Skype. Mike grew up in Bird Island, MN and over the years during our skype conversations we have been amazed at how many similar experiences we had as kids even though we grew up several hundred miles apart. Mike has been making annual canoe trips to the boundary waters for over 40 years and in 2018 he invited me to join him which I did.
Life after graduating in 1980.
Life Memory #1: Moving to Flagstaff, Arizona to attend graduate school in August of 1980. For the move, I rented the largest Ryder truck they had. Then I put my El Camino and motorcycle inside of the truck, hitched up my trailer and hit the road for the 3-day trip to Flagstaff...by myself. Had a flat on the trailer in the mountains of Colorado and was grateful that I took my dad’s advice to get a spare and a 5-ton hydraulic jack before leaving Marshall.
Life Memory #2: Getting a job offer in Phoenix as a COBOL programmer in December of 1980. Made the decision to leave graduate school, sell my trailer and leave it in Flagstaff since it was made in 1954 and didn’t have air conditioning.
Life Memory #3: Spent the next 35 years writing computer software for various platforms and numerous companies before retiring at the end of 2016. I worked for 19 different companies during my career, (the grass always seemed to be greener on the other side of my computer), including a 12-year stint managing the website for Swimming World Magazine. During my time at Swimming World, I was able to locate every back issue of the magazine that had my name in it. No feature articles, just the fine print meet results in the back of the magazine. Looking back, I think that my real career was writing resumes and going on job interviews.
Life Memory #4: Meeting my wife Karen at a company here in Scottsdale where we both worked at in 1984. We got married in September of 1985. Turned out that Karen grew up in Mahtomedi, MN which is adjacent to White Bear Lake outside of St. Paul. We got married in White Bear and several teammates were in attendance.
Life Memory #5: When our daughter was born in 1999, our only child.
Life Memory #6: Having fun and laughing hard every time I attend a reunion.
Life Memory #7: Having fun building and maintaining the team’s website.
Life Memory #8: Numerous mini reunions over the years with teammates here in the Phoenix area. (Steve Binder, Pete Stalik, Reed Eckstrom, Brian Reynolds, Kevin Tripp, Greg Higdem, Peter Bardon and Jerry Celski)
Life Memory #9: Trying to maintain my “Potential” All-American status by continuing to swim and play water polo. My long-term goal is to live to be 100, swim a couple of masters meets and clean up on the awards because I outlived the competition.