Brian Casey: Researcher, competitive swimmer

Casey won several events at the New England Masters Championships and qualified for the national competition held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.


Brian Casey hates to sweat, but loves to get wet. This 34-year-old expert swimmer has been practically marinating in chlorinated pools since age 5. His father taught him to swim, his first stroke was the hardest - the butterfly. But the young Casey took to water like a fish and by the first grade he was on a team. That pattern continued through his college years at Notre Dame, where he was swim team captain. His strongest race was the 200-meter butterfly, which he calls "a brutal, brutal race where your shoulders are screaming in pain," and the individual medley, where swimmers use all four strokes (butterfly, breast, back and freestyle).

Casey continued swimming for fun and sanity during his law school days at Stanford. "One day I wandered over to the pool where a group of guys worked out every day. Before I knew it, I was working out every day with them," he said. "When you're working out, moving with the water, it's unbelievably liberating. It's the closest thing to flying - every swimmer I know has dreams about flying."

On the job, Casey does laps as President Gee's researcher on issues of higher education and academics. He is also working on his dissertation at Harvard. Whenever possible, Casey spends his lunch hours at the Smith Swim Center, keeping in shape for competitions.

In the recent Swim the Bay, Casey finished fifth in a field of 300 swimmers, and first in his age group. He swims in the master's category - that's anyone over 25, with no upper age limit. He estimates that nationally, more than 18,000 people compete at the master's level.

Casey usually swims five or six times a week for about an hour, and his dedication has paid off. He won several events at the New England Masters Championships and qualified for the national competition held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He had four top-five finishes there and was on a relay for New England that won the event. But Casey was humbled as well: "Down in Florida, there was this 80-year-old woman who did a kick-ass 100-meter butterfly. All I could say was, 'you go!'"

But it's not all for the thrill of victory - it's become his own way of keeping focused and calm. "My life can get very cerebral and very intense. But when I'm at a pool or at a swim meet, all I am is a 'swimmer,'" says Casey, "It's a nice contrast in my life. Without it I would surely go off the deep end." - Linda J.P. Mahdesian

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