For 18-year-old Griffin Schumacher, the past five years
have been a true test of endurance. A senior at Riverdale
Country School,
he will be Harvard-bound in the fall after spending the last few years training
as a championship swimmer at the Upper East Side’s
Asphalt Green swim club. Attempting to balance the demands of a training
schedule and elite swimming races with SATs, homework assignments and tests,
didn’t come easily but, as Schumacher found, it’s all worth it for the thrill
of the race.
Tell me about how
you started swimming. How did you make it to where you are today?
I started swimming for my school team in seventh grade and
then in eighth grade my coach offered me a spot on the varsity team which was a
pretty big deal for an eighth grader. And then in ninth grade I swam fast in a
league championship meet so my coach encouraged me to join the club team at
Asphalt Green.
What do you find
most challenging about swimming?
I’d say being consistent and having to swim every day,
sometimes twice a day, is most challenging. Even when you feel sick or you have
a lot of work you still need to be there giving it your all.
What keeps you going, what makes it all
worth it?
I’m really competitive and I love racing. I get to go
against kids that can challenge me every day. Swimming is all about self-improvement
and always trying to better myself especially because it often comes down to a
tenth of a second or a hundredth of a second.
What’s it like
competing on Asphalt Green’s AGUA team?
Well, I started in my sophomore year and I swim there
anywhere between six and ten times a week. Normally we have big competitions
after each competition at the end of each season and then we have small meets
as well.
Looking back over
your career as a swimmer, what has been your proudest moment or your biggest
accomplishment?
My junior year in March I qualified for Olympic trials for
50 freestyle, then that summer I was a finalist in Junior Nationals for two
events, those were both big moments for me.
You’re headed for
Harvard next year! When did you find out about your acceptance and what was
that moment like?
It was a long process to apply and waiting to get accepted
and it was really, really stressful. I was in school with my friends when I
found out, my phone rang and I took the call. I never really expected or
realized that I might have a chance to get in so it was just huge and
incredible. I had no idea what to say, I was speechless.
What are you most
looking forward to about college?
I’m excited to be swimming with a faster team and having
more freedom. But what I’m most excited about is just being at Harvard and
meeting incredible people.
Did you have
trouble balancing your responsibilities as a scholar-athlete? Did you have to
give up a lot of normal teenage life?
It’s definitely challenging and I’ve pulled more than a
few all-nighters, it’s really all about finding any second you can to study for
a test, whether it’s driving to practice or on the bus coming home. As far as
my social life, my team has Saturday and Sunday morning practices so I have to
be home pretty early on weekends. It’s a sacrifice but it’s worth it, I love
swimming and practicing every day and seeing friends.
What would your
advice be to an aspiring young swimmer?
I would say time management is key, and to get enough
sleep because sleep has been a tough thing for me to get enough of.
For more information
on Asphalt Green, visit asphaltgreen.org.
