Benjamin Wainman, a senior ecology, evolution, and organismal biology major, was recently named GLIAC player of the week for the fourth time.
Wainman is an international student from Sydney, Australia, where his swimming career started at a young age. “I started swimming competitively when I was seven,” he said. “I enjoyed that it was an individual sport … I can measure my performance.”
He also spoke about how he feels about being GLIAC swimmer of the week. “Being … swimmer of the week is nice and flattering, but it’s not what I work for,” he said. “But, it is good to give the program some light.”
Wainman expressed his happiness with SVSU’s swim program. “It’s awesome being an SVSU athlete, particularly under the swim program,” he said. “I have a lot of success and improvement …, and that will stick with me.”
He also spoke about how he makes achievements like this happen. “I just apply myself day in and day out,” he said. “The preparation starts months in advance.”
Success doesn’t come without some setbacks, of course. “I’ve had plenty of setbacks in my career with lots of injuries,” he said. “Recently, the swim team didn’t have a pool to train in for 2 months which a huge challenge.”
“[I] overcome by being committed to [my] goals and not losing sight of them,” he added.
Wainman also spoke about his individual goals as a swimmer. “[My] short-term goals are to be GLIAC champion in a few events and NCAA national champion in the mile,” he said. “Long-term goals are representing Australia in open water swimming and hopefully the Olympics one day.” Wainman and the rest of the team will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 24 at home against Lake Superior State.
