With the multiple avenues of social media available in today’s world, it’s relatively easy to keep up with the out-of-water happenings of our favorite swimmers around the globe. Enter our new series, ‘Beyond the Lane Lines’, which collects personal stories, little known facts and general items of interest from athletes in their non-aquatic habitat, helping us get to know them for more than just an event ranking or time on a board.
#1 – Boomer’s Birthday
First up? Boomer Phelps and family recently celebrated his 1st birthday. The little man, son of the GOAT Michael Phelps and wife Nicole, was treated to a shark-themed birthday party, complete with a jaws-like cake. From the pictures across the Phelps’ family’s Insta and Twitter, looks like Boomer had a super fun time.
#2 – Michael Andrew hardcore travels
From our coverage of the 2017 Atlanta Classic, you know that 18-year-old Michael Andrew raced on days 1 and 3, but was absent on day 2. Sleeping in you might say? Heck no! The teen and family traveled through Friday night from Atlanta to Lynchburg, Virginia in order to arrive for the graduation ceremony at Liberty University. The 6+ hour journey enabled Michael and sister Michaela to participate in the ceremony, not as college graduates, but as high school graduates. The pair completed Liberty’s online courses and were able to throw their hats in the air on Saturday before returning to Atlanta for Michael to win the 200m IM on Sunday.
#3 – Chalmers & Wilson Call it Quits
18-year-old Kyle Chalmers, the Aussie who wowed the world with his gold medal-winning 100m freestyle swim in Rio, has been dating fellow Olympian Madi Wilson going on 2 years. Chalmers trains in South Australia at Marion Swimming Club under Peter Bishop, while Wilson recently made the move to Bond University in Queensland, now training alongside Cameron McEvoy and junior star Brayden McCarthy. The continued distance between the two young athletes was recently cited as the reason the pair decided to call it quits, according to Adelaide Now. The young stars are now back on the market if you happen to be down under.
#4 – British Swimmers in Thailand
In a series of overseas camps geared toward World Championships preparations, the British swimming squad is currently in Thailand to soak up the sun while fine-tuning their aquatic skills. (Note, I hope these Brits wear sunscreen!) Get a glimpse into how the Brits look in a more relaxed environment, conversing on-deck, working out on land, and relishing their training environment via photos published by British Swimming on Facebook. BBC is also on-site this week, specifically talking with Adam Peaty, Ross Murdoch and Duncan Scott.
#5 – Did you know Connor Jaeger was a walk-on at Michigan?
When reading about an upcoming clinic of which 2016 Olympic silver medalist Connor Jaeger would be a part, I was reminded that this kid was originally a walk-on athlete at his alma mater, the University of Michigan. Jaeger would go on and claim American Records in the 1500 and 1650 freestyles, while also finishing on the podium with silver in Rio in the 1500. The fact that he was a non-scholarship athlete is motivation for the rest of us to work with what we have and make our own path.
Him being a walk-on seems odd when he was 1:38.2/4:27 in the 200/500 and 48.7 in the 100 fly before college. I guess it’s possible because he was only 1:41.6/4:34 as a junior, but I can’t imagine that remained the case for very long.
It’s also worth remembering he was part of a freshman class of 18 (!) athletes, and when he joined the Michigan program, they already had a lot of great swimmers on the roster: Dan Madwed, Miguel Ortiz, Sean Fletcher, Ryan Feeley, Kyle Whitaker… 9.9 scholarships don’t go very far, especially on a roster 2 years away from winning NCAAs.
And I only say that as someone who had to compete against that roster for four years
^^^ This post is great.
Was Jaeger a year younger than Feeley? If so, my times above are junior/sophomore times, not senior/junior times.
I was at the sectional meet in 2009 where Feeley and Jaeger swam against each other across the 100/200/500 frees and Feeley broke Hackett’s 1650 record. Based on how they looked when they swam and where each athlete was in their development, if you told me at that point “One of these guys is going to end up as the fastest American 1500 freestyler ever” I would have wagered a boatload of money on Feeley. Shows that you never know 🙂
Yeah, Jaeger was a year after Feeley, in a recruiting class with Kyle Whitaker, Sean Ryan and Michael Wynalda among others. That group turned out to be pretty good!
I’m not sure what you mean. He was 138 and 427 as a junior with the fast tech suits. He graduated 2010 high school and 2014 michigan. Those 2009 Harvard pool times from eastern sectionals (45.0/138/427/48fly) would be from his junior year. It looks like he either had an off year or didn’t fully taper for a senior year meet with no time improvements except for a 148 2 fly. He is a year older than many grade counterparts (maybe your confusion) – I believe he turned 19 and then 23 before graduating high school and college, respectively.