As you may have already heard, Jason Wening, a senior math major here at WPI, competed this summer in the 10th Paralympic Games in Atlanta. This not being his first time competing at the highest level of international competition, I asked him to compare the Games in Barcelona to those in Atlanta. To this he replied, "The pool, and the US team spirit were better in Atlanta, the village, and cafeteria were much better in Barcelona. It's hard to beat a view of the ocean from your balcony. (Barcelona)." As it was in the Olympic Games, the home team advantage was a definite plus for the Paralympians this year. "None of the athletes from the US team expected to get much of a response from the American public. I enjoyed being shown that I was wrong."
But just how much did all that American support help? Judging by Jason's swimming rŽsumŽ, he really didn't need all that much help. He is in possession of about 35 national medals only two or three being not gold, about 23 International medals the significant of these being the three gold and one bronze from Barcelona and the most recent gold from Atlanta. As for records, he holds the world record in the 400 free, 800 free, and 1500 free and national records in everything except the 100 back stroke. To top it all off, Jason has also held world records in the 200 IM, 4x100 free relay, and 200 free but has lost those to other competitors.
Jason started swimming in the "third grade as therapy for an operation I had to move my left hip into it's correct position. I stopped after fifth grade, and started again the summer after eight grade, and have been swimming ever since. About ten years total." He is now one of the best swimmers in his class. "In the 400, Holger Kimming is the closest, but he's really a back stroker. Everyone has pretty much conceded the 400 to me. It's the same with Holger and the backstroke, and a few other people in their respective races."
When I asked Jason for a description of his gold medal winning race, the 400 free, this is what he had to say: "I seeded for the Paralympics second 4:57. Holger Kimming, a rival and training partner from my days in Germany seeded first with by far the fastest time of the year 4:53. So, I swam the first heat. I knew that I had to win my heat, and come in top three to get on of the best lanes for finals (3, 4, or, 5). So, I swam a strong clean race. I knew that I could beat Holger, but Emeal Bronden from Denmark might be some trouble. I went home, ate, touched up all the spots that I had missed shaving, shaved my head, took a nap, and went back to the pool to warm up. Before I went to Atlanta, I made a pair of goggles with one blue lens, and one red lens, and a white strap. I thought they were a nice touch.
"By the time we were escorted out on deck for the race, a little bit of a thunder storm had rolled in. It a very nice touch to here the crack of the thunder during the announcement of the race. "Now entering the Athletes for the S8 men's 400 free KA-BANG! It was also a nice touch to be announced as the current world record holder.
"I was very surprised to find myself in the front of the pack, and dead even with the toughest competition at the end of the first 50. After dismissing the idea that I might have gone out too fast, I knew I could win. The rest of the race was just keeping a strong even pace, and making my move at the right time.
"One neat part of the race was the third 50. Emeal, who was swimming in the lane next to me, and myself were dead even, and breathing at exactly the same time, so we could see each others faces perfectly everytime we breathed. I couldn't help wondering what he was thinking about seeing my face right there. I had the race dominated at the 250, the rest was just trying to break the world record by as much as I could."
Not only was the American crowd on his side for the race, Jason also had strong support from family and friends. "It was practically a family reunion. My immediate family, two of my three uncles, all of my surviving grandparents, and a few cousins. Whit Griffith, the swim coach, and two of the swimmers [from WPI] Jamie Murdock and Becky Kupcinskas also came down, as well as some friends of the family who were in the area."
As for the future, Jason is still unsure whether or not he will be competing in the Games in Sydney in the year 2000, but he is looking forward to the World Championships in '98 "Because they're going to do the 1500 for the first time Internationally. I want to drop that world record a lot." After graduating here in the spring Jason is planning on Grad school. "University of Washington if everything goes well to study either Bio Mathematics, or Biomechanics. I also want to get involved in sprint kayaking, and continue coxing. Hopefully I could cox a boat at Master's Nationals, and some people like to think I might be able to make the Olympic team, but I seriously have my doubts."
Jason asked me to thank all those who came to his reception last week. He really appreciated the support and was very impressed with the interest the WPI Community has shown in his race.