Remembering Jim by Chas Peterson

I had the fortune of being a part of Jim’s life during his college years.  We were both engineers and in the same recruiting class on the Columbia swim team.    You can imagine that four years of swimming, eating, studying and just hanging out with one of the most fun and energetic person you can think of creates a long lasting impression. I swear it was like going to college with Tigger.  I didn’t learn until late 2010, several years after the fact, that Jim’s light had been extinguished so early.  While Jim and I had lost touch I never forgot the time we spent together.   

I’ve had time to read through the tribute posts I can see that Jim’s positive influence not only followed him after college but flourished. While many mention of Jim’s swimming –  there is even an annual open water event honoring him -- not much has been shared about what he was like to be his teammate, or what it was like to be a part of any of the major accomplishment he had in the pool.  I am hoping to share a little bit of that part of Jim’s college life in hopes that all  find some new nuggets about Jim that both do him honor and bring a smile to your day.

So what was it like to swim with Jim?   For the most part I don’t think it was really any different than other experiences we shared with him.  He had an absolute knack for turning almost any situation into a game.  Not a serious “winning is everything” kind of game, but a game that offered everyone a chance to play and have some fun.

More than most swimmers Jim really enjoyed honest competition.  Win or lose, Jim understood good competition brought out the best in him.  The excitement of getting the opportunity to test yourself was enough of a fun factor to make the training and anxiety of it all worthwhile.   Jim, always engaged with others around him, enjoyed seeing others be successful.  In championship meet situations where teams aren’t so much competing head to head, I saw Jim many times cheer for someone from a rival college, solely out of respect for their ability and jumping on an opportunity to participate in the race even if only as a spectator.   Overall as a teammate his positive energy around swim meets helped us all relax, be supportive, and do our best.  

To me Jim’s love of racing made him fast but it was his ability to bring in the game perspective that made him successful.  Sure Jim swam to win and had clear goals around what he wanted to achieve.  We all did.  But he never let those things get him to a point where he forgot that swimming, even with all its pressures, was still just a game.   That is an unusual and powerful balance to have in teammate.  Jim helped us see races as obstacles to be overcome and if successful celebrated, not as do or die situations.  It has taken me years to see the balance Jim had.  I wish that I had learned more quickly the lessons he was teaching me so many years ago.

There was one moment in Jim’s Columbia swimming career I would want everyone to know about.  It happened on December 3rd, 1983, 30 years ago to the day from the time this writing.   The moment is when Jim our team end “The Streak.”    

What was The Streak?  If you were standing in the fall of 1983 the Columbia men’s team had lost to Harvard 46 years straight.   FDR was ending his first term the last time Columbia defeated Harvard in men’s swimming.  In 1982 Jim and I had been part of the Columbia squad that “shaved down” in an attempt to beat Harvard.   We were outclassed in that meet and never really made much of a stand.  We respected the Harvard team but were tired of losing to them.

As a sophomore Jim was determined that things would be different.  Early that fall Jim said to me “Chas, I want that 100 Back (team) record, and I want to win against Harvard.”   Now as I’ve said Jim liked competition but was never overzealous.  Sharing his goals was unusual, and I took note. When it came time for us to prepare for the 1983 Harvard meet Jim went all in and shaved his head.   Jim looked awesome in a shaved head.   He was the splitting image of Mr. Clean, no gold earring required!   

The matchup with Harvard that year was not an easy one.  The night before our coach Lenny Galluzzi   had given us all times we’d need to do if we wanted to win.   It was clear that a complete team effort was going to be needed if we wanted to end The Streak.

Jim’s first job that day was to lead-off the 400 Medley relay.   First event of the meet, first Lion to hit the water.  We were all so anxious; no doubt the previous year’s loss in the back of our minds.   Jim took to the water for his backstroke leg with his Mr. Clean looks and a focus so fierce it was clear to all something special was about to happen.  It did.  Right from the start Jim’s massive strokes pulled away from the Harvard leadoff backstroker and he just keep extending his lead.   As Jim pulled away the rest of us just keeping screaming louder and louder.   By the time Jim touched the wall we knew that we were going to open the meet with an unexpected win in the Medley relay.   Soon after winning it was announced that Jim had broken the team record in the 100 back with his leadoff performance.  We once again erupted in cheers.

When you’re facing a 46-year losing streak a performance like Jim’s can really have a big impact on a team.  It gave us all the confidence we needed to believe in ourselves and perform at our very best.   I’d like to say that after the opening relay we continued to dominate the Harvard team, but they of course had their own traditions to keep and fought back.  It was a see-saw battle all the way and in the end Columbia won the meet by a narrow margin.   As Len had predicted it was a total team effort.  It was a total team effort and Jim had lit the fuse.  

For years even before Jim’s passing I have kept this date in the back of my mind and try to pause on every December 3rd,  to reflect on my time at Columbia, the swim team, and Jim.  Can’t say I have remembered every year but most.  Breaking The Streak wasn’t our only achievement there but it certainly was one of the most memorable.

Funny what I remember most isn’t the meet itself but my walk over to the pool that afternoon. As I left the dorm I could see Jim about a hundred yards or so ahead of me.  Instead of shouting I watched him wind his way through the students, past Low Library.  I can still see his bouncing bald head moving with confidence and grace through that crisp late sunny Autumn day onto his own self-proclaimed Carpe Diem.  I wonder what he was thinking on that walk.  Was he as nervous as I was?  How much pressure did he feel that day?  It took 46 years for this opportunity to come and with his Boston roots no doubt the traditions and history Harvard held as champions must have also weighed in.    For most that’s a lot of pressure.  For Jim that must have been pure fun.   What a challenge to overcome!  If we win, what a celebration we will have!  That quiet “calm before the storm” moment is what I seem to hold onto.   It’s a reminder to me about how he approached some of life’s big moments with a positive attitude and that things that are less than certain can be the most fun.  I also think of Jim and what a great friend he was to me in that formative time.   I count myself as one of the luckiest that we met and were able spend some of our final moments of youth together.  Thank you Jim, will never forget you and will do my best to remember the every December 3rd I get.