Topping the list of senior Sam McManus’ favorite swim moments is his recent national title in the 200 yard breaststroke. On March 24, McManus became the fifth student-athlete in DePauw history to earn an individual title at the national level.
Also part of McManus’ meet is a second place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke, an 18th place finish in the preliminary 200 yard medley relay, a 12th place finish in the preliminary 800 yard freestyle relay and an 18th place finish in the preliminary 400 yard freestyle relay.
McManus started swimming at a young age in the YMCA but did not start competitively swimming until just before his senior year of high school. His interest came from being able to track his improvements over time.
“I always thought swimming was fun, but most of the guys I swam with just did it because it was fun,” McManus said. “The switch to club swimming was an atmosphere change. I was suddenly part of this group that was pushing me more.”
Competing at the national level was not something McManus seriously looked at during his first year of swimming. In his second year of collegiate swimming, McManus missed the national cut by three one-hundredths of a second. “A better turn, a better finish; if just one extra thing would have gone right, I would have made the national team,” McManus said. “It lit a fire under me.”
It was in his junior year that McManus got his first taste of swimming at the national level. “I was the only one who qualified on our team so it was kind of bittersweet because I could go and swim, but I did it solo which kind of sucked,” McManus said.
Between his junior and senior year, McManus started focusing on what he could control outside of the pool to get better. He ate better, focused on recovery and started lifting more. “If you want to get faster, you need to work harder, and it’s hard to work hard when you’re always sore or you’re in a bad mood,” McManus said.
McManus’ 200 yard breast race came after his second place finish in the 100 yard breast. “I knew these races were up for anyone to grab. I just knew that as open as it [the field] was, if you had a good meet, it could very well be your title,” McManus said.
He described being on the podium as a special moment for him. “I was thankful to be up there because it was a culmination of a lot of hard work,” McManus said. “I was a face to people in the crowd. I was a son, a grandson and a friend to a lot of people there.”
Throughout his collegiate career, McManus has collected many honors and set various pool records. He earned two All-America honors in both the 200 yard and 100 yard breaststroke. McManus also earned an honorable mention All-America in the 800 yard freestyle relay at the 2018 National Division III meet. He also earned first-team all-NCAC honors in 2018 in the 100 and 200 yard breastroke and second-team honors in 2016 and 2017 in the 100 yard breastroke. He was also named the NCAC men’s swimming and diving athlete of the week on Nov. 20, 2017. Finally, McManus holds the school records for both the 200 yard breaststroke (1:58.57) and 100 yard breaststroke (54.20) events.
McManus said he would love to find a way to be involved with the sport in some way after graduation, maybe as a volunteer deck assistant. He also mentioned the idea of joining Masters, which is competitive swimming at a lower level than collegiate swimming. “Maybe in like four or five years; maybe I’ll get that itch again to get back into the pool,” McManus said. “It’s hard to stay away.”
