As the Men’s Varsity Swimming Team wrapped up their conference play with a Centennial Conference championship win at Gettysburg College, Jeremy Rockaway ’22, a first-year student from Oviedo, FL, took home the Most Outstanding Rookie award for exemplary first-year performance. Rockaway took home gold in the 400 IM and 200 Fly events, bronze in the 200 I.M. and gold in the 400 medley relay team. The Garnet won the Centennial Conference Championship for just the second time in the history of the program, and look to send swimmers to the NCAA championship on March 20.
Ping Promrat: What is your intended major, and what interests you about that subject?
Jeremy Rockaway: I’m still undecided, but I’m really enjoying the math and economics courses I’m taking right now. Seeing how math is applied to create realistic models has been really fun.
PP: What made you choose Swarthmore?
JR: The combination of great academics and a friendly, welcoming team led to me choose Swarthmore.
PP: What was your favorite moment outside of swimming with the team this year?
JR: We have team dinners in Media or Philly occasionally and those are always a blast. But my favorite moment was probably watching a handful of us attempt the Morton Monster eating challenge during a breakfast at The Coffee Station.
PP: You won gold in three events at the conference championships. How are you able to combine your personal goals and achievements with the success of the team? What are your goals for the rest of the season?
JR: Everybody swims faster when we compete as a team, so my personal goals were made possible through supporting my friends and teammates around me. My goals for the rest of the season are to have some great relays at the NCAA Championship meet in Greensboro.
PP: Who is your role model in the sport and why?
JR: Our seniors (Jeff Tse, Michael Lutzker, Chris Smith, Chuck Yang, Jerry Gu, and Doug Leonard) have been my role models this year because they truly lead by example in and out of the water.
PP: Favorite place to study?
JR: My favorite place to study is anywhere in Cornell because I can always find a group of friends there.
PP: Favorite Sharples bar?
JR: My favorite Sharples bar is definitely the salmon dinners because the potatoes they serve with the salmon are the best.
PP: If you could change one thing about Swarthmore, what would it be and why?
JR: I would add a few new meal options at Sharples for some more variety because I think everybody could appreciate that.
PP: What are the team’s goals for the NCAA meet?
JR: Jeff Tse, Chris Smith, Tom Ward, Alec Lawless, and I will all be heading to the NCAA meet in two weeks. This is the largest group we have ever sent to nationals (and the meet itself just keeps getting faster) so it’s really cool to see how much the team is improving. Our goal is to score points for Swarthmore at the national level, whether it be on relays or individually.
