Senior Ali Bauer, from Ionia, Michigan, is one of three swim team captains. She specializes in the breaststroke and sprint freestyle. A biology major, she will attend medical school next year at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.
When did you start swimming and why?
I took lessons when I was little, and started swimming competitively when my hometown got a swim team. I started mostly because my parents said ‘you’ve tried a lot of sports and you’re not good at them.’
Did you come to Hillsdale to swim?
Yes. That’s why I came to Hillsdale. I’ve realized since it is much more than that. But swimming is what brought me here.
What’s the best part of swimming?
Probably that I can eat as many calories as I want a day and still be fine. Some sports have to report their weights and have a special diet and our coach is like ‘Are you eating enough carbs?’
What’s the worst part?
We swim fast at two meets. You compete hard at every meet, but there are two meets when we rest, put on a fast suit, and try to go best times. And if you’re not feeling it one of those two meets, then it feels like a downer on your whole season. So basically you have two chances to go fast. That’s probably the only hard part about it. As an athlete, you want to work hard, you like training, but you want to do well.
Do you train all year?
In the offseason, we do more lifting, and more cross-training. During the season, we still lift and do dryland — medballs, bands, circuit stuff, a lot of abs — but it’s more focused on yardage. Toward the end of the season, we drop yardage and work on more intensity/speed things, and at the very end of the season, we taper off.
What is a typical week of practice?
We have two mornings a week: Those are at six. And then we have afternoon practice everyday, 3:15-6, and Saturday practice usually unless we have a meet. It’s about 8 practices a week, two weights and two dryland sessions.
Is swimming boring?
It’s really boring over the summer if you’re training on your own. That’s probably the most boring swimming gets. It helps a lot having other people in your lane. You don’t really talk to them, but just knowing that someone else is struggling right behind or right in front of you helps you make it through the day. It’s a matter of singing songs in your head. Some pools are nice and have underwater speakers. We do not have that technology here. But the stereo helps a bit. Keeps it fresh.
Of what swim feat are you most proud?
Probably when I had a school record. I had the 200 breaststroke record. I got it my sophomore year, and it was beaten the end of my junior year. So this year is redemption year, hopefully.
What motivates you?
Lots of things, obviously. You love the sport, you love the team. You do things for so many years, you can’t really imagine not doing it. And there’s always a reason to be better. Complacency is not my thing.
Do you want to swim competitively after graduation?
No. Not at all. There’s masters swim programs where you can keep swimming competitively. That’s not what I want to do. I’m so looking forward to swimming slow and not caring, for exercise but not for speed. It’s exciting to be able to do other things and not worry about how they affect my swim career. I can climb the rockwall a few times, get my forearms nice and sore, and not worry about how I’m gonna feel at practice later.
So no Olympic aspirations?
No. I’m 5’ 4” and I’m going to med school. I have other goals, and I’m not built for that.
Are you sad your swim career is ending?
It is sad, thinking at the end of your career that there are so many things you didn’t do or that you won’t do. You’ll never go to the Olympics, you’re never gonna beat that one time you’ve always wanted to beat, but it’s also comforting that there’s no pressure to do that either. Not that I felt too much Olympic pressure in the first place.
Are you happy with it on the whole?
It’s been a good ride. There have been more positive experiences than negative ones. Being a collegiate athlete teaches you a lot of things about teamwork. Even in individual sports, you train together, you compete together, you still have to learn how to put the team first. And being a captain, it’s broadened that motherly aspect where you want to have the best for everyone else even if you’re not having a great day.
What would you tell someone who wanted to start swimming?
Get in the pool, first of all. Anytime spent in the water is productive, especially if you’re just starting to swim, at basically any level. The more time you spend in the pool, the better you’ll be.