McCord steps up to challenge at Ohio State

Technically, the season is officially over. The reality is no season is really ever over, especially when you are a Big Ten athlete. With the Big Ten swim season over and the Ohio State Buckeyes the third-place team, Alex McCord and his teammates have already begun working in an attempt to return to the top of the conference next winter.Third or not, it was a heady campaign for McCord, who is winding down his first season as a Buckeye with daily four-hour practices – “and that’s not very intense,” said McCord.It has been an interesting campaign for the Wooster native, who jumped into the Big Ten in a big way and contributed to OSU’s team, which followed up its third in the Big Ten with an 11th-place showing in the NCAA national championships in mid-March.“Our coach was pleased,” said McCord. “Guys on the team were riding high, so it was a little letdown to get beat by Michigan and then beat by Indiana (at the Big Ten Championships). We lost 13 seniors (from 2009-10), so it was a little of a rebuilding year. We were hoping to take first and defend our title. We beat Indiana at the NCAAs, so we felt good about that.“It’s time to start over and put last season behind us. That’s the way it works here. It all blends into one – there is no offseason.”That pertains to McCord, who followed up an All-Ohio career at Wooster by earning a spot on the Buckeyes’ varsity and earning a varsity letter jacket with a strong first-year performance.“I competed in every varsity meet,” said McCord. “I made the traveling team, which was unexpected. I did not expect to make the travel team. That was a big honor – in fact, it was the highlight of the year. Almost all of our meets were at home because of our facility, but I was one of only 22 guys to go to our meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It’s one thing to see the rivalry from Wooster, Ohio, and another to feel it. Being in Ann Arbor, rolling around in the OSU bus and in OSU gear … people are staring you down like you don’t belong here. It was intense, the most intense thing I’ve ever been in.”McCord left Wooster with both freestyle sprint records, and he expected to bump up into longer races or move into other races at Ohio State. To his surprise, that didn’t happen.“In college I became even more so a sprinter – I was almost exclusively in the 50 and 100 freestyle,” said McCord. “I was surprised how I did. I contributed a lot. I scored in nearly every meet. I expected to sit in the background and that’s not the way it ended up being. The guys picked me up and pulled me along and I fit in. I swam the 100 back once …and I contributed to relays a lot. I love relays – it was two a meet and sometimes even the ‘A’ relay. It was fun.”McCord showed his promise early in the season in a meet at Miami. After what he termed an “exhaustive” fall training with no rest, the Buckeyes headed downstate.“I think we rested three to four days around Thanksgiving break,” said McCord. “I had never felt that way. It was the first time we rested, I was confident and it was fun. I swam lights’ out. There was no comparison. I blew through the 100 back with a time that would have won state (six months earlier). I dropped 2.5 seconds. For the first time, I broke the 21-second barrier in the 50. You want to be 20-point something and I blew through that like it was nothing. In the 100 free, I set the (Wooster) school record with a 46.96 as a junior. At Miami, I went 45.65 and then on the relay I broke 45 with a 44.9. In the 50, I went 19.9 in the relay, and that was cool to see looking up at the board.”McCord said it was a combination of work and lifting – an average of six to seven hours a day for the Buckeyes – as well as a continued refinement of his stroke technique.“A lot of it was just sucking it up and dealing with (the pain),” he said. “Being hurt is not an option. … and here, so many things hurt more. I learned I couldn’t let that happen. I can’t let it bother me.”More pain came the week before the Big Ten meet when he collided with a teammate during a post-meet swim.“It was our last dual and I was warming down after a 50 and we collided. … I got knocked out cold and suffered a concussion,” said McCord. “I could still swim (the following week), but I couldn’t go all out because I got dizzy. I only swam three events out of eight, but I still went 20.7 in the 50. At State, I went 21.3, so even with a concussion I swam faster.“I didn’t tap my full potential in high school. I worked very hard in high school and my name should be on the record board for little while, but it’s funny looking back on the times I put on the board. That 46.97 (100 free)? I went that in practice, and we did three 100s with 10-minute rest with a drag suit on.”McCord admitted to self-doubts heading into the year, but soon realized that, “I came here with a lot to learn, but I do belong here. To make this team you’ve gotta be good. They didn’t deny other people and accept me for no reason. … You have to race and do your thing. Don’t second guess yourself.”McCord will enroll in summer school to help reduce his class load, especially during the season.“We train more than any other sport. It’s seven hours a day on an average day,” said McCord. “If those seven hours weren’t there, there are other things I could be doing. I’m not taking 20 hours – I’m taking 16. (Summer school) is one way to ease the schedule.”McCord and the rest of the team will get a two-week break before school starts. “Out of 52 weeks, we train 48,” he said. And while that is a heavy workload, McCord is happy to be a Buckeye.“It’s fun to be a freshman in college,” he said. “This sport has been good to me. Ultimately, though, I’m not here to swim. I’m here for an education and set myself up to be successful in life. If I walk away, I am prepared to better myself, but I love being an athlete.”So much so that McCord will wear a letter jacket, something he didn’t do in high school.“I got my letter in a week (as a freshman),” said McCord. “I never did get a jacket in high school. I think I lettered in my first meet in high school. You need 24 points in swimming and I averaged 38. Later I saw (head coach) Jeff (DeHaan) trying to figure out ways to get points for some teammates, but I was never in that situation. It’s an honor here – they give one to you as a gift. I was never big on that in high school. Everyone knew I swam and I didn’t have to wear it, but this one I’ll wear.”“I’ve always been chasing someone and I still am, but there are more chasing me than in the beginning.”