No Second Thoughts for VanOvermeiren

Walking around on planet Earth requires making choices.

Which way to turn, what to eat, when to set the morning alarm, whether to spend a year driving the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile around the country or swim for a fifth season while pursuing an MBA.

That kinda day-to-day stuff.

Sydney VanOvermeiren, after a four-year career at Florida State where she achieved All-American status, faced such a decision. She applied for the job of driving the iconic vehicle around the country, but she also wanted to pursue her MBA, favoring Colorado State's program.

"I knew in the back of my head I was going to do this all along, but it was fun to know I had that option," she said. "When I went to the last interview, they saw on my resume I had already put the CSU MBA program on there, and they said the dates for this aren't lining up. I emailed them back and said I had to withdraw, but it was a fun little process. It was cool to know I had the option."

The Rams' swimming and diving team is happy with her choice, as her experience and positive approach have bolstered the lineup the first two meets of the season, including Friday's opening day of a double dual with Air Force and New Mexico at Edora Pool Ice Center.

After leading a 1-2 finish in the 400-yard individual medley last week with Erin Dawson, the two reversed places on Friday. They also own the top two times in the Mountain West in the event in the early going. It's not normal to see the 400 IM so soon in the season, especially the first two meets. To top it off, both have been at altitude.

Coming from FSU, VanOvermeiren had no idea about altitude conversion, but she's all for it when one is able to automatically shave 5 seconds off the final time. Dawson came in at 4:26.37, VanOvermeiren at 4:30.30. Take those extra seconds off, and the veteran is thrilled with those times in the early going.

"I'm really excited. Erin's been awesome to train with," she said. "We've been doing a lot of IM stuff, which is really good. My coach from last year reached out to me and she knew about the conversion times, which I had no idea. She said you actually went 4:24 (at Wyoming), and I was like, really? I had no idea, so I'm very happy with it all. You just give it all you got. It's the last runaround, so you have nothing to lose at this point."

A feeling she shares with a lot of the senior class she became an honorary member of by moving across the country. CSU head coach Christopher Woodard has seen final years go one of two ways, but the early signs for his group have been promising.

Even entering the season with some shoulder fatigue, senior Anika Johnson has mentally prepared herself to move past it and focus her energies into a positive campaign. A good step was winning the 200 free on the day with a 1:54.36.

"After Wyoming I was a little discouraged, but it's good to comeback and put aside any expectations I have of myself and just go out there and race, and I think that's what I did today, so I'm happy with that," Johnson said. "I think my senior year I just want to have fun while doing it, and I'm the type of swimmer who puts pressure on my swims. I'm working on eliminating that. Part of that is because of my shoulder, but I just want to enjoy what I'm doing this year. It's a lot of fun, and most of my class has carried through, so it's awesome to be with them and grow with them and close out our collegiate careers together."

Johnson, along with classmate Megan Hager, Lucy Matheson and Lexie Trietley opened the day by winning the 200 freestyle relay, then Matheson and Trietley were joined by Katie McClelland and Tess Whineray to close the session out with a win in the 400 medley relay.

The Rams won eight events overall, three of them with 1-2 finishes. Johnson was followed by Hager in the 200 free, and Matheson led Whineray to the wall in separate heats of the 100 backstroke. Trietley won the 50 free with comfort, as did White in the 1,000 free after a later surge.

The final CSU victory came in a fun event – the 100 IM – as the race card features three NCAA-off events. The other on Friday was the 50 butterfly, which Johnson gave a shot.

"It's really exciting swimming off events. In the middle of the season, it can get grindy doing the same events over and over," Johnson said. "This is the beginning, but it's refreshing to do. I think any opportunity you get to race, no matter the distance, coaches are watching and it's fun to see what you can do."

No matter where you can do it. EPIC is not home for the Rams, but's it is close, and more lanes at the venue meant more chances to race overall. Johnson likes swimming at Moby Pool – that will always feel like home – but she did like the extra room.

So did Woodard.

"It gets us out of our comfort zone, but we don't have to travel far. That's what everybody said," he said. "It feels like an away meet, but we're two miles down the road. It maybe takes off some of the pressure of performing in our arena, but it also gives us more opportunities not being a six-lane pool and now being in nine lanes across in dual meets. It's a lot of personnel, a lot of opportunities."

The meet closes Saturday (10 a.m. start) with 11 events as the divers will join the swimmers after competing the 3-meter at Moby Pool. Colorado State leads Air Force 129-76 at the midpoint and New Mexico 161-44.

The key to the second day for Woodard is being able to fight off the fatigue which will set into the muscles and minds. It's one reason he's scheduled multiple multi-event days, because on the fourth and final day of the conference meet, a team has to create its own energy.

Same for a swimmer in the 400 IM. By the time the final leg of the freestyle comes around, every muscle hurts and each mind is challenged to see how much further the body can push. Same for a tough workout at practice.

Even in those times, VanOvermeiren has never though she could instead be seeing the country in a rather unique way. Then again, she'd choose to swim the 400 IM over the 100 IM every day of the week. She knows the event. She knows the suffering, because sometimes at the end of the race – as the jingle for the product she turned down suggests – one feels like there's nothing left of them.

What she didn't know about was the MBA program, and after midterms last week, she may have had some thoughts. Never in the pool, however.

"I haven't felt like that … Yet. Maybe I will," she said with a laugh. "I tend to forget that it actually happened."

Because being a swimmer is what she truly likes to be.

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Erin Dawson

Katie Flynn

Megan Hager

Anika Johnson

Lucy Matheson

Lexie Trietley

Sydney VanOvermeiren

Tess Whineray