The Daily Cardinal puts on its swimming suit and hits the pool to freestyle with senior Ellen Stonebreaker.
The Daily Cardinal: You qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle. What was that experience like?
Ellen Stonebreaker: Well, it was kind of a mixed experience for me because I was really hoping to make the Olympic Team, and I didn't. So, in that respect, it was disappointing because it was something I had been working for a long time, and I fell about a tenth of a second short. It was pretty hard, but I guess if you really look at it, it was pretty neat to say that you made it to the Olympic Trials. And so, the further away I get from the Olympic Trials, the more I can enjoy and realize that it's a pretty neat thing. It was pretty overwhelming because it was so many people and it's such a big meet, and there was so much pressure and tension. It was like no other meet that I have ever been to.
DC: What was the biggest learning experience that you got from the Trials?
ES: Just dealing with the fact that I didn't make the Olympic Team, I think. It was the biggest thing that I've ever tried to do in swimming and it was something that I put so much effort and so much energy into. And so falling short, it was a big disappointment and it was something I really had to work hard to deal with. So, I think that was the biggest learning experience for me was dealing with the fact that I didn't do everything that I wanted to do and still being able to find something positive out of the experience.
DC: What was the caliber of competition like compared to what you face in the Big Ten?
ES: This was all the people I swim against in college swimming plus everybody who is not in college--everybody who was too old to be in college and everybody who was too young to be in college. The Olympic Trials was everybody, all the fastest people in the country, whereas in the Big Ten it's only a segment of the fastest college swimmers in the country. So, I guess the Olympic Trials was a lot higher caliber of swimmer than just the Big Ten.
DC: Are you focusing on Athens in 2004?
ES: No, not at this time. I don't know how I'll feel about it when it rolls around, but I think I am going to take a break from swimming after the season is over. Kind of step away from it a little bit and try some new things. I don't know if I'll feel like I want to come back and train for the next Olympic Trials, but for right now I don't think I will.
DC: What is your major?
ES: Finance.
DC: You're planning on graduating this year?
ES: No, next May.
DC: So you are going to be here a fifth year?
ES: Yeah.
DC: What type of music do you like to listen to?
ES: Everything. I like classic rock, I guess as my favorite.
DC: What is your favorite artist?
ES: Led Zeppelin and The Doors.
DC: When you are preparing for a meet, what type of food do you usually eat?
ES: I usually try to focus on protein more than anything because I feel like I get lots of carbohydrates and people always say \Eat lots of pasta before competition,"" but I would rather eat chicken or meat.
DC: When your sweet tooth calls you, what do you usually have?
ES: I have a really big sweet tooth. I have to have a dessert after every meal. But, I guess ice cream probably is my weakness. I really like ice cream.
DC: Chocolate or vanilla?
ES: I usually like peanut butter stuff, so like chocolate peanut butter.
DC: Ooh, from Babcock?
ES: Yeah, I get that sometimes.
DC: When did you start actually swimming?
ES: I started when I was six.
DC: When you were six? And you have been in competition ever since?
ES: Yeah.
DC: Did your parents just let you do your own thing, or did they push you to be a better athlete?
ES: No, not at all! That's probably one of the main reasons why I am still doing it, is because there hasn't been any pressure from my parents at all. It just kind of started like every little kid takes swimming lessons, so that you can play in the pool in the summer. I just really took to the water and I really liked doing it, so they said, ""Well, why don't you swim in the summer league team?"" So, I did that and that wasn't enough, so I swam year-round, and I've just been kind of doing that ever since. They have always supported what I've done, but they have always said, ""As soon as it's not fun anymore, then it's not worth doing.""
DC: What other sports do you play when you have a little free time?
ES: I don't have that much free time to do other sports, but when I was younger, I played tennis and volleyball. So those were my favorite sports when I was younger.
DC: What is your favorite book?
ES: I really like the Oprah's Book Club books; I read those all the time. Those kind of dramatic books that are about depressing subjects, but are really good.
DC: What are your plans once you graduate college?
ES: I would like to work in Chicago.
DC: Really?
ES: Yeah, for a firm in Chicago. I would like to be in corporate finance.
DC: How often do you get a chance to actually go home to Naperville, Ill.?
ES: I try to go home whenever I can, for a weekend here or weekend there, because I am really close to my family. I only live two-and-a-half hours away, so that's really nice. But most of the time, I can't leave until after practice on Saturday. So, it's just for half a Saturday, half a Sunday.
DC: You mostly focus on freestyle. Has that been something that you have always done as an event?
ES: Well, when I was younger, I did some other strokes. I did backstroke and I did butterfly. I did some [Individual Medley] for a while, but all the way through high school, I did freestyle. It's been my main event for eight years now.
DC: Well, swimming is more of an individual, timed event, but yet at the same time, in the Big Ten, in college, you're competing with your team and your teammates. What's that like?
ES: Well, it's really cool in college because there's such an emphasis on the team aspect of it, like the Big Ten Championships were a really big deal and the dual meets are a big deal. While it's individual, we train with other people. But you have your face in the water for two hours. So, it's kind of individual with the training that we do, but then it's kind of neat to get involved with the team thing. And the relays are a really big deal. The relays add a lot to the team dimension.
DC: How important are your coaches?
ES: Oh, they are so important. Aside from the fact that they train us and they give us the workouts everyday, the coaches that we have here at Wisconsin have really helped me a lot with my swimming. And it's more than just helping me to be a better swimmer, it's teaching me how to deal with different situations that I'm going to need for the rest of my life. It's about being a better person. They have really taught me the things I need to be a better person, and that in turn has helped my swimming. They have been such a vital part.
