I’ll be honest. When I was away at college, I didn’t even know where the campus pool was. I still don’t. At least I think I don’t. I now know what building it’s in, but other than that, don’t ask me about WashU Swimming.

Head coach Brad Shively joins the Michigan crew every summer at the Wolverine Swim Camp in Ann Arbor, and one of my sorority sisters used to be on the WashU team; something I did not discover until recently. Seriously, where was I?

Anyway, I read the latest WashU Student Life email edition after it landed in my inbox, and there was a nice little write-up about the swimming programs performances at the UAA (University Athletic Association) last weekend. The women were 2nd and the men 4th. It made me laugh because it is another instance of how I keep seeing how close the sport of swimming was to me, throughout my life, and yet I paid no attention to it.

I was thisclose to becoming a swimmer when I was 3. I broke my leg and the Dr. suggested to my parents that I do gymnastics, ballet, or swimming to build up the strength in my leg again. I chose ballet. I wanted to rock the tutu and be a ballerina. Close, but no cigar.

Remember now, Athens is what sucked me into the sport. During my college years, I really only paid attention to basketball, volleyball, and baseball because those are the sports my friends played.

Well, just thought I’d share. But aren’t you all glad that I’ve since seen the light?

What’s everyone else’s stories on getting sucked in?

That’s my bad!

I got so busy with the overall maintenance of Swim Stars, The Swim Aids, and now MGoSwim.com, that this little blog o’ mine took a backseat. I aim to get back to checking in and giving regular updates on the behind-the-scenes aspects of what I do here on SwimStars.org.

My fall was mostly consumed with paid work within the swimming community. I completed websites for Mark Spitz and Jessica Hardy, as commissioned by PMG Sports.

You may have noticed that I already had a Swim Stars Network site here for Jessica Hardy, that she was involved in. Nothing changes there. She continues to answer questions from fans on her Q&A there. Her official site is more basic. There is no news posted. All of the pictures there belong to Jess and she maintains her own blog as well. So, those are the major differences, in case anyone was wondering!

I have many other web projects with PMG Sports lined up that I’m excited to work on. This includes sites for Kate Ziegler, Dara Torres, Cullen Jones, and more. I’ll post more about those as I get to them.

As for Swim Stars, the site will maintain the status quo for the rest of the year. I have been going back and forth as to whether or not I add any new swimmers to the site. If I do, it will likely be Kathleen Hersey, as I already own a domain name. But if not, SwimStars.org may be headed towards some major changes after the Olympics. The site may reach even further into the future in promoting the sport’s next stars. That is, in part, because of the impending retirement of some of the Stars I promote now.

So, keep an eye on Swim Stars this year! Definitely not going anywhere!

Not only have I launched the new design on SwimStars.org, but I’ve also given this little blog of mine an update. Hope everyone likes it!

I’ve received a request to post some pictures of Lenny Krayzelburg from the US Open, so I will add those in a little bit. I’d love to share!