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Sports

Westfield Grad Eric Knight Now Olympic Hopeful

Knight qualifies for 2012 Olympic Time Trials and gives swim clinic to local kids.

 

2005 graduate Eric Knight recently qualified for the 2012 Olympic Time Trials in both the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke. After spending most of his childhood swimming for the NVSL in the Centreville area, he recently decided to give back to his hometown by teaching a swim clinic to local children.

Knight said he has dreamed of teaching a clinic for the past several years, but never understood the logistics required to accomplish the task. This past December he came into town on a break from training with Team Elite in Charlotte, N.C. and decided to enlist the help of an old friend. Beth Tweddle, a frequent volunteer in the Centreville area, has known Eric for years from the Virginia Run summer league team. So, she helped him set up a swim clinic for children through in Centreville during the recent holiday break.

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“There’s a lot of kids around here I have swum with and coached their summer league," said Knight, minutes before the clinic began. "And I want to just give them some basic pointers of fundamentals of swimming. For those that are serious, it will help them swim faster. And for those who aren’t serious, maybe it will give them a little nudge for the love of the sport.”

Knight said the turnout was unbelievable. He felt proud helping dozens of kids improve their stroke technique and teaching them the importance of teamwork within an individual sport. After the event, the Olympic hopeful said the clinic was a success and believed the children “got a lot out of it.” 

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The time trial qualifier joined Team Elite in May of 2011. David Marsh, former Auburn University swim team coach, founded ‘Elite’ before the Olympic games in 2008. The club is now considered the top national swim team in the United States.

“He came to Charlotte to build a program and the mission is to win more medals for the United States of America,” Knight said. “The whole team is an Olympic hopeful. There are two world record holders, five American record holders, a couple U.S. record holders and NCAA champions.”

Knight said he feels privileged to have made the team because he “really didn’t have anything close to those kinds of credentials” at the time. The ‘Elite’ swimmer is a bit of an anomaly in that he never really swam for his high school team at Westfield. With the exception of a couple practices, Knight’s competitive swimming experience consisted solely of summer league races for Virginia Run and Sully Station II in Centreville, during his youth.

“I did not take swimming seriously until I had my growth spurt at 17,” Knight said. “I went from 5-foot-10 to 6-foot- 5 in one school year. As soon as I got tall I started to have success. I wasn’t that good of a swimmer – that’s the thing. But I started winning and that was fun.”

Scott Brown, Knight’s NVSL coach, saw something special in Eric and put in a call to George Mason swim coach Peter Ward. Ward agreed to meet with Knight since he was already accepted to the university. Knight said he walked into Ward’s office standing 6-foot-six, weighing in at 150 lbs. wet. In spite of his scrawny build, Ward saw great potential in the swimmer and gave him a shot on the team.

“Peter saw a very skinny kid and he gave me a chance,” Knight said. “And I am very thankful for that.”

The new Patriot swim team member realized great results and dropped time. But he said his junior year was his breakout season.

“I continued to lift weights and got stronger and stronger,” he said. “I started studying the sport more that year on this website called www.floswimming.org started by Garrett McCaffrey. At the time, it was the ESPN of swimming.”

Knight injured his shoulder and underwent rotator cuff surgery before his senior year, but bounced back even stronger in his final season. Now 205 lbs., Knight plans on adding 15 more pounds of muscle before time trials this coming June. Considering Team Elite’s daily regiment, the weight gain should not be a problem for Knight. He swims an average of 4,000 meters per day, eight times per week. Knight also hits the weight room three times a week and takes a Pilates class with his teammates.

“It adds flexibility and I’d say the biggest benefit is it helps balance out my back and my hips,” Knight said. “I do freestyle and one side is more dominant than the other. Pilates has helped balance that out.” 

Nutrition is crucial for competitive swimmers who participate in the intense workouts that Knight and his teammates endure. Therefore he consumes an average of 4,000 to 6,000 calories per day consisting mostly of protein and carbohydrates. At times, he said that amount will sometimes increase up to 8,000 calories.

“We eat balanced meals with vegetables and fruits as well,” he said. “We try our best to cut out simple carbs, like sugars and junk food. Everything after workouts is protein.”

At the end of the interview, Knight said he wanted to deliver a message to parents in the Northern Virginia area, regarding the sport of swimming.

“I love the NVSL and cannot stress the importance of it. I would say put your kids in the NVSL,” he said. “It is a wonderful organization, that is the reason Northern Virginia is such a swimming powerhouse. And it teaches more than swimming skills—it teaches social skills and discipline and I could not promote the NVSL more.”

Knight will compete in the 2012 Olympic Time Trials in June of 2012. He said his goal is to make it back to the semifinals, which will be televised during primetime at the end of the month.

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