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Changing Of The Guard
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Swimmer Sara O'Fallon will be the columnist here at fightingillini.com during the upcoming spring semester.
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Dec. 27, 2001
I think that there are two kinds of athletes in this world. There are athletes and there are swimmers. Yes, I said, swimmers. And if any of you disagree with me, then set your alarm clock for 4:45 a.m. tomorrow because we're going swimming with the Illini swim team. Morning practices start at 5:30 a.m. Every day except Sunday. So let's see, that means if you want eight hours of sleep you better be in bed by 9:30 p.m. That's usually when I wake up from my second afternoon nap.
I've always said that swimming is like jogging except you have a plastic bag over your head. What kind of sport keeps you from your natural, life needing air supply of oxygen? Only one. To me, that sounds like seriously hard work. But to the women's swim team it sounds like practice. And practice is something that they know all about, having afternoon training sessions during the week, as well as their early morning workouts. Add weight workouts, "dryland" workouts and study time on top of that and you have one busy and tired group of female athletes.
One swimmer who knows a lot about early morning practice, as well as a lot about sports in general, is your next fightingillini.com writer. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you: Sara O'Fallon! Born and raised in Lisle, Ill., this junior tri-captain wants people to give swimming the credit it deserves. Consider it done. To put myself in her shoes, today I set my alarm for 4:45 a.m. I was up for about as long as it takes Sara to backstroke 100 meters. Fifty seven seconds. And to think I nearly had my Speedo on.
Sara and I sat down a couple nights ago, over the Monday Night football game, and I asked her some questions that I thought might be intriguing. I kept a close eye on my watch, considering I knew anytime past 9:15 p.m. would be cutting into precious sleep. It was obvious that bed wasn't too far from her mind either, upon her feet were two giant purple and pink monster slippers. I made sure to keep it short. Here's what I found:
Me: OK, So tell me and the rest of the readers what it's like to have practice at 5:45 a.m.
Sara: It's something that you get used to, but I would never say that it's an easy habit to form. I don't have class on Friday so that's a day where I can sleep after morning practice, catch up on any sleep lost throughout the week. It is important to be well rested, though, with afternoon practices from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoons are off and we only have one practice on Saturdays (6:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.) which helps.
Me: Being a broadcast/journalism major, what would be the ideal job for you once you graduate from Illinois?
Sara: Ideally, I would love to be on the set with the Sports Center anchors. But more realistically, anything that involved athletics where I could be writing or producing an aspect of a TV or radio sports show. Also, I would love to be stationed somewhere in Chicago, close to my family and friends.
Me: Have you ever done anything like that before?
Sara: This summer I called in a sports-talk radio show and offered some advice for the Illini football team.
Me: It seems to me that you are a sports fan. Sara: Yeah, I'm a huge sports fan The only real TV show that I watch religiously is SportsCenter, and anytime that the Bears or Cubs are on TV I must be watching.
Me: Give me one word to describe the Cubs.
Sara: Awesome.
Me: What are characteristics about yourself that are important for readers to know before they tap into the O'Fallon files?
Sara: Hmmm. Well, first off, it's important for everyone to know that I have a dry sense of humor, so be ready. I love to interview people and love all true personalities in sports. I am very excited about the opportunity to write for the website and practice the skills of my major.
Me: Any quirks or interesting hobbies?
Sara: I love old movies. Anything on AMC and all musicals. The Sound of Music and Singing in the Rain, especially.
Me: You guys have earned a national ranking this year. Tell me about the prospects of the team.
Sara: This is the year for us to have a great breakthrough. We have a goal of finishing in the top 5 of the Big Ten, which always has the toughest teams, and hold a final ranking of top 20 in the nation. We set our sights high, but with the team we have this year, both of those goals are definitely attainable.
Good luck Sara, I look forward to reading!
And I'm out.
