Swimmer Tommy Glenn '14 competed in his first NCAA Division I Championships last week in Seattle, Wash. Glenn represented Brown in both the 100 and 200 butterfly events and earned All-America Honorable Mention honors after finishing 13th overall in the B Finals 200 fly with a time of 2 minutes, 24.60 seconds. Looking ahead, Glenn will continue training for the 2012 United States Olympic Team Trials which will be held in Omaha, Neb., at the end of June. For his strong performances at the NCAA Championship, The Herald has named Glenn Athlete of the Week.
Herald: What has been your biggest or most important race so far?
Glenn: I would say the 200 fly at Ivies in the finals just because it was such a different thing, and it got me top eight in the country, and it just sort of set the bar as being completely different than anything I've ever done.
Can you talk about your preparations for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials?
Well, as a lot of the team is sort of taking a break right now, I'm back in the water already, training. I mean, the trials are in late June so I'm treating it sort of as a midseason meet because I'll be training until end of August, or mid-August for the U.S. Open, and the trial's just sort of a good halfway point. Basically, I get into pretty heavy training, and then after trials I'll start resting a little bit before the Open.
How do you try to keep yourself from feeling too much pressure before meets?
Honestly, that's always something that's just come natural to me. I always see swimming in races as the same as swimming in practice - it's the same thing you do everyday, so it's just something that should come naturally, and it usually does.
Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions?
Yeah. When I make finals, before I swim, I always have a Big Mac, a chicken sandwich and a large strawberry shake from McDonald's. It's actually true - I eat it before every finals. I even have a shirt - it says "The Big Mac" lyrics on it.
What influenced your decision to swim for Brown as opposed to anywhere else?
My brother was a member of the class of '08, and he swam, so it was honestly just a pretty good starting off point. I went on my recruiting trip to Columbia before Brown, but when I came to Brown, the team was just a perfect fit and everything you could ever want in a school.
Where is your favorite place to swim?
I mean, I've kind of been swimming in crappy pools my whole life. The temporary pool here is nicer than the pool at home, you know, so in about a week or so I'll have a new favorite place because the new pool is going to be open.
When you're not swimming or studying, what are you usually doing?
Playing Super Smash Brothers in my room with my roommates. I honestly don't really do much.
So what's your Karaoke Night go-to power song?
Oh, man - I just can't sing. I've never been in that position. Probably, if my roommate was there, "Something About Us" by Daft Punk.
So have you thought any more about your plans after Brown?
Right now my plans are pretty much business or law school. This summer, after U.S. Open, I'm doing an internship with my roommate's father who's a federal judge in Nashville. It's sort of a broad thing, you know, if I continue to improve, the Olympics in 2016 could be actually a relative possibility. It's just a long ways off. I just have to see how the next two years shape up, swimming and academic-wise.
So this is your first time doing Olympic-level swimming?
Yeah. I've never seen people swim anywhere near as fast as they did at NCAAs last week. I've never seen anyone swim that fast, ever. I've been to meets with (Michael) Phelps and all the Olympians, but this is by far the fastest I've ever seen, which is so crazy. While I was at the meet the two fastest miles ever were swam - it's just so crazy to see.
How does it feel to witness history being made and getting to be a part of it?
It's just so awesome because coming to Brown, all I wanted to do was help make a fantastic team, and it's now awesome to see all these kids interested in coming to our school and swimming for us. I'm getting a ton of emails from kids who are interested in our school now. Things are definitely changing, and it's so awesome to be a part of it.
