For breaststroker Vanessa Weidner, swimming isn’t just about winning races and bringing down your time, but it’s also about the family that results from the tight knit group of teammates.
The junior from Greenville, Ohio said her favorite part about swimming is the closeness of the team.
“You spend more time with your teammates than most of us see our own families,” Weidner said. “So they become like family.”
Weidner began competitively swimming at age five. During her high school career it is no surprise that she was a four-time district and state qualifier when she was a senior. When she was a senior, she also made the District-9 All Star Team.
“I chose to come to EMU because it’s the perfect size of campus, not too big or too
small,” Weidner, who is a biology major, said. “I also came because of the team and coach.”
During high school, Weidner swam with a teammate who came to Eastern one year before she did and mentioned how much she loved it. Weidner checked it out herself, and fell in love with it as well.
“Peter Linn is an awesome coach,” Weidner said. “And he truly wants his athletes to
enjoy their college careers and that was a big selling point for me.”
During her freshman year at Eastern, Weidner recorded the 11th fastest time in the
MAC for the 200 breaststroke. When she was a sophomore, she placed third against Bowling Green in the 200 backstroke, clocking in with a time of 2:09.09. Weidner also placed fourth in the 200 back against Purdue.
“Thus far, the achievement I am most proud of is adjusting to such a different style of swimming,” Weidner said. “The transfer from high school swimming to college swimming was a big challenge for me, but being able to still drop time at this point in my career is something I’m proud of.”
As much as Weidner loves her teammates, her teammates find her a lively and outgoing person to swim with too.
“Vanessa sheds quite a positive impact on our team in and away from the pool,”
Michele Gingher said. “She always has a positive attitude and possesses leadership qualities that are very admirable to many girls on the team.”
Weidner really loves how close all her teammates are to each other and she likes how the camaraderie is not just with the women’s team but it’s with the men’s team as well.
“A lot of schools have separate programs for men and women,” Weidner said. “But we have the same coach, we practice together, we travel a lot together and it’s really nice to have such a big team.”
Weidner is just a junior, so by the time she is a senior, she will most likely rise to the top and swim her way into the lead in the 200 backstroke in many
competitions.
While she is away from the pool, Weidner likes to spend time with her family whenever she gets to travel home. She also enjoys hanging out with her friends.
“I also really enjoy doing volunteer work at the Humane Society whenever I get the chance,” Weidner said.
No matter where Weidner goes, whether it is to swimming practice or the Humane Society, she shines her happy-go-lucky personality and shares her cheerfulness to everyone around her.
“In and out of the pool she is a very hardworking and dedicated person in all aspects of her life and is always a ray of sunshine.” added Gingher.
Weidner will continue to set goals to beat her times in races during her remaining years at Eastern, and she will always see her teammates as her family.
