From Rivals to Training Partners to an Unwavering Friendship
As Brian Houston once stated: “Don’t be fooled into thinking that you have the capacity to achieve your best on your own. A training partner in the gym is a great asset because when you think you have reached your limit, there is someone who can push you to go further.”
Have you ever had a heated rivalry with a fellow swimmer that eventually led to one of the best relationships you could have imagined?
Where it Began
A rivalry between two exceptional swimmers was born on a hot Atlanta summer night at a neighborhood swim meet. Jake Magahey and Bradley Dunham were the stars of their respective teams and neither wanted to lose any race to the other. Through summer league as kids, club swim, rival high school meets, and continuing to move through college, the two current Georgia Bulldogs have grown to be close friends, training partners, and no longer rivals in the pool.
Photo Courtesy: Carrie Magahey
“Jake and I had a HUGE rivalry,” Dunham said. “We hated losing to one another, and whenever we raced all eyes were usually on us, seeing which one of us was gonna win. However, once I hit my senior year (of high school), we became closer as friends than rivals, yet, neither one of us still ever wanted to lose. Now that we are in college, it’s more of us just making sure that we beat anyone who isn’t ‘repping’ UGA and having fun at the same time.”
Reluctant Training Partners
Magahey, a member of the USA Swimming Junior National Team and an Olympic Trials qualifier, and Dunham, an Olympic Trials qualifier and Junior Nationals finalist, started training together upon their entrance into high school at Swim Atlanta. Their coach saw an opportunity to pit the two against each other in practice and push each other to succeed in a particular set or in meets. When one of these promising swimmers would see the other succeed, it would only fuel the other to push harder in practice to get faster.
“At first we were super competitive, almost to an unhealthy point,” Magahey said. “I think at a certain point we grew to respect each other, though. Starting my sophomore year, I think Coach Chris (Davis, Swim Atlanta) saw this and took advantage of it. He would start giving us really tough practices, like Ironman type stuff, but we would always push each other to get through.”
In spite of the relationship starting out unhealthy, as the boys grew older and matured, they began to realize, like their coach had, that they could use this rivalry to their benefit. Magahey and Dunham swim and think similarly. Having someone beside them to push them during hard sets was the motivation to get better and faster, while still trying to beat the other to the wall, but now in a healthy, competitive way.
“At first, we didn’t know each other as well, so we both were just focused on beating each other,” Magahey noted. “As time went on, though, we grew to understand each other better, and I think we realized we needed each other in order to get better. Ever since then, we’ve been pretty close.”
A Bond was Formed
During practices at Swim Atlanta, an unspoken truce was created. Magahey and Dunham grew to understand that they were better together than apart. Carpooling to practice, making it through tough sets together, and joking with coaches and teammates bonded the two competitors. Their relationship was strengthened inside and outside of the pool as the boys got to know each other as individuals and not just as rivals.
“I’d say us training together has had a lot of benefits,” Dunham said. “We have gone from big rivals to close friends, so we’ve been pushing one another for years now. It’s great to see how much we’ve both improved over the years.”
Go Dawgs!
Photo Courtesy: Carrie Magahey
Eventually there was high school graduation for the pair and college swimming careers ahead. Dunham, a year older than Magahey, committed to swim at the University of Georgia (SEC Conference). When it came time for Magahey to decide where he wanted to spend the next four years of his life, he felt stuck, really stuck. His mom went to Louisiana State University and his dad attended the University of Florida, both SEC conference schools. Magahey, a devoted Gator fan like his dad, said growing up in Georgia around Bulldog fans made him root for UGA to lose every Saturday.
UGA did not seem like an option for this Gator. It wasn’t until Dunham, a freshman at the time, approached Magahey about swimming at the University of Georgia that Magahey even realized that it was a possibility.
Becoming Successful Together
“After that conversation, something kind of clicked for me,” Magahey said. “UGA had lots of things I was looking for, and after making my campus visit, I realized pretty quickly that it was the place I wanted to be. I think if he didn’t have that conversation with me that day, I wouldn’t have ended up going here. This is pretty crazy to think about.”
Magahey and Dunham have both achieved success as Georgia Bulldogs. This season, Dunham has posted NCAA B-cuts in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke. Magahey has earned several NCAA A and B cuts, along with 11 dual meet wins, and was named the SEC Men’s Swimmer of the Week and SEC Men’s Freshman of the Week multiple times. The big rivalry now is between UGA and the other SEC schools, and both swimmers are out to take it all in the pool.
“Being able to swim together with Jake at UGA is a dream come true,” Dunham said. “The environment that we train in at Georgia has really helped us both become the most successful student-athletes that we could be, all while having a blast with one another.”
Better Together
It is a tale as old as time, two strong and fast athletes pitted against each other. They could either work together to succeed or fight against each other, possibly leading to failure and disappointment. Magahey and Dunham decided to succeed and trust each other’s work ethic and power to work together and become successful student athletes.
“Working together has only really helped our friendship,” Magahey said. “It helps a lot to have somebody who understands the process as much as you do. Swimming is a super tough sport especially at a high level, so you need as much support as you can get.”