RickKarle's Blog

     I hope your Friday has gone well! An admission tonight:  I have never been a very good swimmer.  When I was young, I was the swim nerd who was wearing the nose plugs wrapped around my neck. I have always been a  bit nervous around a swimming pool or a lake (unless of course I have one of those big orange life vests wrapped around me like  a mummy). In high school, I actually tried to race my buddy across a pool underwater, hit my head while misjudging my finish, and relied on a lifeguard to fish me out of the water.  Oh, I'll mess around in a pool- a few cannon balls & bad dives, and I love laying out in the son, running on the beach, etc.  But if I fell out of a boat in the middle of the ocean, give me five minutes of treading water and I'm a goner.

     That's why, as I peek in on the Summer Olympics (you may have heard of a guy named Michael Phelps), I am greatly impressed with what I have seen, especially from the Auburn swim nation.  As of this moment, current and/or AU swimmers own a total of ten Olympic medals, more than any other college or university.  Just tonight, former AU swimmer Caesar Cielo won the gold medal in the 50M freestyle.  Former AU roomates Kirsty Coventry and Margaret Hoelzer (who calls Huntsville home), finished 1-2 in the 200M backstroke.  I'm even getting a nightly dose of Rowdy Gaines, the former AU swim hero who has done a fabulous job as  a color analyst on NBC.

     With all of this said, I'm here with some advice:  If you are looking to get your child an athletic scholarship, get him or her in a pool, and fast.  Just this summer, while my son gets serious about soccer and basketball, my 7-year old daughter has found a sport in swimming.  Sure, it's a mere summer swim league, but Mia has thrived as a kid who is new to the sport.  As I have made my way to various swim meets in our area (which by the way, last seemingly forever), I have noticed that there is always lots of orange and blue on hand. In fact there are AU logos everywhere:  lawn chairs, bags, swim caps, warm-up suits, shorts, towels, flip-slips, you get the idea. The reason? Auburn's reputation as a collegiate swim power has parents everywhere dreaming their dream: Send the kids to AU, where national championships are won and Olympic dreams can come true.

     While I'm truly a neutral guy (remember, I attended the University of New Hampshire, for crying out loud), I will say this:  If Auburn, Alabama, or any other college swim power wants to help me out with tuition for little Mia, I say bring it on! And if my daughter ends up going to college for free thanks to her swimming exploits, I'll promise to take off the nose plugs and the life vest. I promise!