The city of Grosse Pointe, Mich., lies on the shores of Lake St. Clair just five miles north of the heart of downtown Detroit. It is a long way from humble Madison. Not exactly a prime recruiting situation for the University of Wisconsin, especially with the massive spheres of influence held by the Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State Spartans. But recruit the Badgers did, and they landed one of the nation’s best in Carly Piper. That was three years and a mantle full of awards ago, and neither the Badgers nor Piper has looked back since.
The junior freestyle swimmer was highly recruited around the Big Ten. She had been a four-time all-American at Grosse Pointe North, and had been named Speedo Swimmer of the Year for the 1999-2000 season. But Piper couldn’t resist the charm of the Wisconsin campus or the direction of the Badger team.
“I just fell in love when I came to visit, everything from the atmosphere, the coaches, the team, I just loved it all.” Piper said.
And love it she has. Piper has been sporting her cardinal and white with pride for three years, even starting her own fashion statement in the pool.
“I always wear red goggles,” she said. “When I first came here I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll wear these, I like these,’ and they’ve been ordering them ever since, so I’m always wearing them. I think I’m the only one on the team that wears them.”
Making a unique fashion statement in sports has never hurt an athlete before, and Piper is no exception.
In just two years for the Badgers, she has been a nine-time Big Ten champion in solo- and team-freestyle events. Piper still holds Big Ten records in the 1650-meter freestyle (16:02.61) and was a member of the record-breaking 800-meter freestyle relay team (7:07.30).
Perhaps the most startling statistic in these records is Piper’s ability to break free from the stereotypical distance-swimmer or sprint-swimmer label and break records at various distances throughout her career. But listening to Piper, however, you would think there was nothing to it.
“The freestyle has always been my best stroke,” Piper said. “I guess it’s just a matter of how you’re coached. I kind of try and go out there and go as fast as I can in anything.”
This simplistic, but very effective, approach has also garnered national attention for Piper, as she won Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and also is a back-to-back winner of the Swimmer of the Big Ten Championships award, none of which phases Piper in the least bit. Just as you would expect from any team captain, she dismisses any and all notions of added pressure.
“I try not to think about things (like that) a lot, I just go in there and do it. I just try and have fun,” she said.
And looking at her stats this year, you would have to believe her. She picked up right where she left off last year, already earning a NCAA “B” cut time in the 200-meter freestyle, giving her a chance to compete at nationals. She is currently sixth in the nation in the 500-meter freestyle with a time of 4:47.12. Piper also won Big Ten Swimmer of the Week and National Swimmer of the Week from CollegeSwimming.com for the week ending Nov. 9.
All of Piper’s hard work has finally paid dividends as she qualified for the 2004 United States Olympic tryouts in the 200-meter, 400-meter, and 800-meter freestyle events. Piper knows that her experience in the Big Ten, which has five teams ranked in the top 25, will be an invaluable asset to her as she strives for Athens.
“Yeah I think [it will]. Big Time,” Piper said. “Because it’s all just good competition, it should definitely help.”
Despite Piper’s immense personal success, the thrill of victory pales in comparison to the joy of the team atmosphere, which she credits as a big part of her success.
“Being able to go in and train with other people who go through the same troubles as you and having those people there all the time to cheer you on, it really helps out a lot,” she said.
Though she may be sporting a different set of colors for the U.S. national team than the ones she would normally wear for our Badgers, at least two things shouldn’t change: those teammates cheering for her and those red goggles.