Athlete of the Week: Michael Schulte

By Deirdre Brill

After three frustrating years of losing close meets to navy, the senior male swimmers probably never predicted that it would take the outstanding performance of a freshman to turn the streak around. But Michael Schulte's, PC '02, wins in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle races in Yale's 127-116 win over Navy this past weekend did just that. By swimming his fastest races of the year, Schulte was able to give Yale the advantage of 18 points and an emotional edge that inspired strong performances by other swimmers.

Although they have always been competitive with Navy, last weekend was the first time in the past six years that Yale beat them. Schulte, an intended political science major from Boston College High School in Wellesley, Mass., explained, "[The team] expected to beat them every year and would lose. This year we knew it would be a tough meet and every race would count, so we never let up." Consequently, the Yale swimmers had the satisfaction of not only finally beating Navy but also demolishing Cornell 172-71 and remaining unbeaten in the Ivy League.

Schulte's consistent and determined performances this season in both practice and meets serves as a good example of the kind of focus and persistence the men used to prevent another close loss against Navy. "Mike has been training really hard," captain Steve Gold, MC '99, said. "You could tell he really wanted to win badly this entire year but kept getting second. It was nice for everyone on the team to see him finally win." Gold added, "[Schulte] just busted out at Navy. It was big; we needed it. If he hadn't won those two races, Navy would have."

Schulte is currently swimming better than he did at the end of high school. He attributes his successful transition from high school to college swimming to the team-oriented focus of the meets. Of the meet against Navy, he stated, "I really pumped myself up for the meet. I knew I had to swim fast because it was a big meet. I put a lot of pressure on myself to swim fast. If we had lost by five points, I would have felt bad."

Thanks in part to Schulte's two victories, the win against Navy provides the swimmers with confidence as they prepare for their four meets between now and HYPs on Fri., Feb. 5. With the help of Schulte, Geoff Lutz, ES '02, and Dan Schinnerer, BK '01, three of the better distance swimmers in the Ivy League, the men expect to win all of these meets. Until then, they can reflect a little on their long-awaited triumph over Navy. "It felt great," Gold said. "They make it into a rivalry. They rub it in pretty badly. [Winning] was nice, especially for the seniors."

--Deirdre Brill

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