Swimmers & Divers Keep Busy Summer Out of the Pool

This Summer I had a Gatorade internship, which involved all the summer camps here at Clemson (Swimming, Football, Baseball, Track, Tennis, Golf, Soccer, and Basketball). It was great to see all the kids enjoying what they love to do. It made me feel like we were encouraging them to become better athletes. To keep me busy I also worked at the Madren Center, which give me a taste of what a real job would be like in the future. –Shastin Leathers (Sr. Diver)

This summer was a lot of fun and started out with some quality family time in the great state of Florida. I then returned to Clemson and worked Clemson swim camps and Athletes in Action Christian swim camp in Auburn. There was nothing more rewarding than passing on the excitement of college swimming to the campers and hopefully making a small difference in their lives. I also did autism therapy with a 5 year old in the Clemson area….and got a dog…..and conquered my fear of the 10 meter platform (just jumping though). Yep, that’s about all. –Ashley Shafer (Sr. Br)

As a part of the Clemson University National Scholars Program, I enjoyed a great opportunity to take an art class at the University of Sussex in England and to travel around Europe. I saw amazing places in England, Scotland, Germany, and France. As an architecture major, I was fascinated by the variety of historical Europeans structures and designs. –Jill Allen (Soph. IM/Br)

This summer I was busy working with the Boys &Girls Club of the downtown Charleston area. This group targets “at risk” children and attempts to provide a safe and productive environment. I was also able to give the children swim lessons – an opportunity they may not have had otherwise. Besides volunteering there I also studied for my MCATs and followed an emergency room doctor doing his rounds at MUSC. On the fun side I bought an old scooter for school and hand painted it pink! –Nichole Carlton (Sr. Dist)

This summer I completed an internship with JPMorgan Chase in New York City. I worked with the Events Group for the Investment Bank. We planned internal and client events all over the country. I also attended the NCAA Leadership Conference in Disney World as Clemson’s Representative. I spent the week with 300 other student-athletes from colleges all over the country. We dealt with legislation, ways to develop our SAACs at our own schools, and best practices to deal with issues facing collegiate athletes today. As president of Mortar Board, The Senior National Honor Society, I attended the National Conference in Columbus, Ohio. I also worked with Second Harvest in NYC. I volunteered by making phone calls and scheduling pickups of the food Second Harvest gets from restaurants to distribute to the many shelters in the city. –Jess Watcke (Sr. Diver)

This summer I was able to give back to the community through coaching a summer league team and also in re-roofing a battered home through a mission trip with my youth group. Life is all about serving others in love with the blessings we’ve been so graciously given. As always, the 200 fly is my friend. –Peg Carter (Soph. Fly)

This summer, besides training at Clemson, I took two classes, which will keep me on track to start my master’s degree senior year. I also was working 20-25 hours a week for Senior Associate Athletic Director Bill D’Andrea in the IPTAY office. IPTAY is Clemson University’s Foundation office and this experience prepared me for my major in communication and sports management. –Jay Crout (Jr. Bk/fly)

This summer was one of the many once in a lifetime experiences I have had the chance to be apart of since I came to Clemson University. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the Japanese study abroad experience, offered every two years by the Japanese department here. This was my first experience traveling out of the country. I spent two months in Japan after studying Japanese for only two semesters here at Clemson. I could talk for hours about the good experiences and enjoyable times we had while in Japan but I will try to give some of the highlights. Our professor began a new feature this year, we spoke only Japanese (around Dr. Williams). This was quite a challenge at first but proved to be quite worthwhile, as our Japanese improved greatly. We were also expected to take two classes, a language class and a culture class. For the culture class we were split into teams that had different assignments each week. We would be sent out to research a temple, shrine, or food item to force us to interact with the Japanese people, then we would give a presentation about our topic in Japanese. The other great part of the trip was my host family. I probably had the most welcoming host family in Japan. They helped me with any problems I came across. I know we will stay in close contact for life. –Bryce Herrington (Jr. Spt)

This summer I had the opportunity to study abroad in Brussels, Belgium for a month as part of the Honors Program at Clemson. Along with 20 other Clemson students, I studied European economics and the history and culture of Belgium. Brussels, the capital of the European Union, was the perfect location for these studies. While in Europe I also was able to go to England to visit family and to Budapest, Hungary to stay and train with my teammate Attila Ruszka. At home in Virginia I spent time with a Pediatric Neurologist and a Sports Medicine doctor, and was able to see what they did during a typical day’s work. Even with all that travel I hit my lifetime best LC times in the 100FR and 50 FR. Life is good! –Matt Balderston (Soph. Spt)

This summer I worked for Katy Printers Inc. The experience I attained made a positive impact on my knowledge and devotion to my field of study, Graphic Communications. This summer I also received the Gutenberg Award, given by the International Graphic Arts Educators Association, by placing first in a four-color screen-printing project that I completed in a graphics course in the Spring ’05 semester. Along with my sister, Rachel, an incoming swimmer, I competed in a 5K open water race in San Antonio, TX. Remember, sprinters can go the distance! –Brian Regone (Jr. Spt)