Professor to compete in his third national swimming competition
By: Jill Quarles
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News
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Dr. Craig Wood, computer science department chairman and professor, recently qualified for his third national U.S. Masters' Swimming competition in five years and will travel to Austin in May to compete.
The self described "tough athlete" never swam competitively until seven years ago, when Carrie Scroggins, Nacogdoches High School swim coach, saw him exercising in the school's pool and asked if he had interest in the sport. She advised him to contact Erik Cozadd, East Texas Masters' Swim member and Boys and Girls Club aquatics director, who introduced him to the Masters' competitions.
Wood, who played baseball at Wooster College and enjoyed running and intramural sports during his graduate school years, suffered a back injury in 1966 and began swimming as an alternate form of exercise.
"When I first started, I could barely make it from one end of the pool to the other without grabbing onto the side and gasping for air," he recalled. "My back wasn't strong enough that I could run, so swimming became my main form of physical fitness."
Although fitness is Wood's reason for practicing the sport, he says the atmosphere of the meets makes swimming more appealing. "It's competitive, but not cut-throat," he noted, praising the talent and quality of other participants. In the past, Olympic qualifiers, NCAA record holders and one person who had swum the English Channel have also taken part.
"I always hold my own with the others," he said. "I'm not the fastest swimmer there, but in the long distance races, I'm able to keep a steady pace."
In the national competition, Woods will compete in the 1650-yard, known as the "mile swim" in the 65-69 age division. Competitions are co-ed and open to participants over age 18. Swimmers may race in a heat against any other person but will only be judged against their own age groups.
"The mile swim is one of my favorite events," he said, "but sometimes when I'm swimming it, and I'm not quite halfway done, I find myself wondering why I took up this sport or why I didn't choose a shorter event."
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