Chris Emr is a senior on the men’s swimming and diving team. Emr is from Rockville, MD and is studying engineering physics.
Peter Cooke: Chris, welcome to the Spartan Spotlight. Let’s go ahead and get started, how long have you been swimming?
Chris Emr: I’ve been swimming now for about 27 years, in swimming years that is. Swimming years can be calculated using the permeability of free time divided by the chlorine damage to your hair.
PC: I know the feeling, I started growing a mullet as soon as I started swimming. What drove you to start swimming?
CE: Mark Spitz and his glorious mustache.
PC: I heard he does a hell of a relationship advice column as well. What do you do on the side?
CE: Water polo, fishing and rock climbing.
PC: Can’t pull yourself away from the water, eh? If Spitz drove you to swimming, who’s your favorite athlete?
CE: Doug Milliken.
PC: Ah, sucking up to the ol’ swim coach. Do you have any athletic honors at Case?
CE: Co-Captain of the Men’s team with Kyle Tepe.
PC: You certainly have a thing for mustaches. What’s your best swimming memory?
CE: My favorite sports memory was freshman year getting a national consideration B-cut in the mile.
PC: Quite the accomplishment, what’s your worst swimming memory?
CE: I don’t remember my worst memory, I think I suppressed it.
PC: If I had to guess it was probably all the other times you swam the mile. What’s your favorite inspirational quote?
CE: “They don’t think it be like it is, but it do.” – Oscar Gamble. Pretty much sums up my life.
PC: Don’t mess with the fro. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
CE: Probably Mars, chilling with Curiosity. If that doesn’t pan out, probably someplace warmer than Cleveland.
PC: Perhaps Mercury then? What makes swimming stand out from other sports?
CE: It’s a zero credit hour class with a 20-hour lab every week.
PC: Rack up those PE credits while you can. Would you rather have the strength of 1000 men, be able to fly, or be invisible?
CE: I would choose to fly, no question about it.
PC: Not bad when you already know how to swim. If they made a movie about your life, who would you want to play you?
CE: Leonardo DiCaprio
PC: What’s your least favorite thing about Swimming?
CE: The chemicals in the pool, it’s terrible for your hair.
PC: I think I’m sensing a theme here. If you could be a girl for a day, what would you do?
CE: I would clean my house and make dinner for all my roommates.
PC: Because doing that under any other circumstances would be unacceptable. If you could participate in any other sport, which would you pick and why?
CE: I would want to be a professional bull rider.
PC: I’m more a rodeo clown kind of guy, personally. What would we find in your locker right now that might surprise us?
CE: My locker is lined with shag carpeting, it makes it cozy.
PC: If you’ve got any extra my van gets pretty chilly in the winter. What goes through your mind during an event?
CE: I swim the mile, so I get a song stuck in my head and think as little as possible. I take the same philosophy on some classes.
PC: I’d wager that some of your classes are more painful than the mile. What’s the high point in the swim season?
CE: High point of the season is always right before the end. A tapered swimmer has a dangerous amount of energy.
PC: Who is the best athlete you’ve ever competed with/against and why?
CE: I’ve met and swam with quite a few Olympic swimmers while training in Maryland, including Michael Phelps, Aaron Piersol, Josh Davis and Kate Ziegler.
PC: Phelps? Doesn’t he hawk Subway sandwiches now? Any insight on how the season is going so far?
CE: We are looking really strong and will probably have one of the best seasons since I’ve been here.
PC: Good to know. Thanks for talking with us, Chris. Enjoy those frosty mornings on the way to practice.