First-year Dylan Myrick is a freestyle, Individual Medley (IM), and breaststroke specialist for the Swarthmore men’s swim team. The Eugene, OR resident swam at his first collegiate meet on Oct. 24, where Swarthmore, Franklin & Marshall College, Ursinus College, and Dickinson College competed at the Centennial Quad in Lancaster, PA. Myrick captured three wins, the most of anyone on the men’s team, placing first in the 200 IM (1:56.79), 200 fly (1:57.69), and the 200 breast (2:12.33). His efforts helped the Garnet to their first three conference wins of the season. On Nov. 6 and 7, the Garnet competed at the D3 Shootout hosted by the University of Chicago in Chicago, IL. There, Myrick earned a lifetime best 59.15 in the 100 breast. Myrick held the last leg of the 800 freestyle relay to finish fifth in the top final (6:52.66). He then closed out competition with a seventh-place finish in the 200 IM top final (1:56.13). Swarthmore men’s swim, ranked No. 24 in the preseason poll conducted by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA), finished ninth of ten competitive teams. Myrick plans to complete a pre-med course of study at Swarthmore.
The Garnet currently stand 4-0 in the conference for men’s swimming and will travel to Lancaster on Nov. 20 to compete in the F&M Invite.
Aimee Lee: First question, how are you? I know this is your first year at Swarthmore. Tell me what the college experience has been like for you.
Dylan Myrick: I like it so far. I like all of the people. I like the professors, and the classes haven’t been too bad because I’m pass/fail.
AL: What’s the culture been like? Have you been fitting in?
DM: The culture’s been really great. I mean, the team’s very close. You really feel the team culture, every practice, and every meet. Everyone supports each other through every practice, and the first meet we had was just where everyone cheers for each other. It’s a very supportive environment to be in, which I really like.
AL: What are practices like? Do you have morning practices or two a day?
DM: Yeah, we have them. It kind of depends on the person, but I do one double [practice] a week, and then I lift twice a week and have practice every day, Monday through Saturday.
AL: Wow. In your first collegiate meet, you notched three wins. How’d that feel for you?
DM: It was pretty fun to win by so much. We kind of knew going into the meet that we were going to win, so it was just like a training meet.
AL: What goes through your mind before you race?
DM: It depends on the race. Sometimes I’ll tune everything out and just be in my head. And then sometimes I’ll get pretty excited, like, at this dual meet when everyone’s cheering. [You] get excited and cheer because your teammates are swimming in the heat before you, and they’re cheering them on before you swim. So you get to watch your teammates race right before you swim, and then, they’re all watching you race. It’s pretty fun.
AL: Do you prepare for meets? Are there things you eat or do the day before and throughout the competition?
DM: I eat a lot. I eat a lot of carbs, especially the day before and the day of. I’m constantly eating throughout swim meets; nonstop food, nonstop fuel. I have some caffeine before the race, listen to some music, and just get excited.
AL: Now that you have a couple of meets under your belt, do you have any goals that you set for yourself?
DM: I mean, my biggest goal this season is to make Nationals, but if that doesn’t happen, I just want to do as well as I can at Conferences and score as many points for the team as I can.
AL: Nice. Do you have a favorite event that you like to compete in?
DM: My favorite one to do is the 400 IM.
AL: What do you think about the effort of the upperclassmen and the coaches? Have you been feeling like the team goals and culture align with yours?
DM: The seniors on our team are really great, and especially the seniors on the men’s team: they really support everyone, and they make the team feel like a family from day one. The coaches are really great, and everyone’s supporting each other. Everyone’s trying to be as fast as they can and support each other through everything.
AL: I think one thing that a lot of people can be curious about at Swat is how the recruiting process works for student-athletes. I’m a soccer player, so my recruiting timeline was probably different from yours, but what about Swarthmore pulled you in? Tell me about your process.
DM: I kind of just was just researching schools, seeing what schools fit both my times and my academics the best, and Swat was one of those because the academics are obviously amazing, and the athletics fit in with what I wanted. So I reached out to the coaches, filled out the questionnaire, and then the meetings with the coaches went well. In July, I did a pre-read, and then once I passed that, I sort of just stayed in touch with the coaches until I went on my visit in October. It was pretty fun, and that’s when I got to meet all the team and all the other recruits. And that’s sort of when I decided that, okay, this is what I want to do. So I committed to Swarthmore and applied Early Decision last November.
AL: Outside of practice, what are the things you like to do?
DM: I like to watch the NBA. I am a big Portland Trail Blazers fan. I like to watch those games, but they’re usually pretty late, so it’s right before I go to bed.
AL: Do you have any hot takes about campus so far?
DM: I don’t know if this is a hot take, but I do not like the breakfast food. I think it’s the worst meal of the day. It’s just the same thing over and over, and I just don’t really like any of the food, but I have to go because I get hungry in the morning.
AL: What’s something that you think that you’re better than 99% of the population at?
DM: In Chem Lab, my lab partner and I are out first every time. We’re pretty proud of that. Shout out to Ryan Herink ’30.
AL: If you could make up any major you wanted, what would it be?
DM: Maybe something like a sports analytics major where you just get to watch and analyze different sports in depth and also learn about the ways sports work in a biomedical way, tying it into pre-med. I think that would be cool.
