KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, October 10. In a move that relied on a whole bunch of little connections that made it seem like fate meant for it to happen, open water Olympian Alex Meyer is headed to Knoxville, Tenn.
Meyer, who won the 2010 25K open water world title and also topped the 5K this past summer, will now be trained by Tennessee’s Tyler Fenwick as he continues his professional career. This follows a year during which Meyer was looking for some new leadership after his former coach Tim Murphy left Harvard to coach at Penn State.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what I’ve been doing the last year since Tim left,” Meyer told Swimming World. “That was the beginning of my reevaluation point. Tim is the best coach I ever had, and I trust him more than anyone as we still have a great relationship. But, right when he went to Penn State, I knew he needed to focus on adjusting to that scene.”
With Penn State out of the equation for Meyer, he turned his thoughts to a location that has a bunch of connections to Meyer that he might not have originally considered.
Meyer’s loyalty to Fran Crippen is legendary. In fact, Meyer was the first person to recognize that Crippen had not finished the fateful 10K race in 2010 in Fujairah, UAE, before all emergency personnel or meet managers. Meyer traveled the world with Crippen as the two best friends swam the open water circuit together, and Crippen will always play a central role to Meyer’s life as he continues to represent Crippen’s legacy.
Fenwick, meanwhile, grew up and swam with Crippen at Germantown Academy. Fenwick also continues to push many of the ideals that Crippen had, and even worked at Mission Viejo where Crippen trained from 2006-08.
So, the initial tight bond over Crippen was already in place.
“I’m a little touchy-feely sometimes, and I go with my gut feelings,” Meyer said. “When I started thinking about Knoxville, there were just so many little connections that made me feel comfortable. Tyler and Fran grew up and swam together, and Tyler also worked with Coach Bill Rose and Coach Dick Shoulberg. I have a lot of respect for both of them.”
But, the connections didn’t stop with Fenwick. Meyer also has some links with Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich, Kredich spent time coaching at Harvard, where Meyer swam in college. Kredich also coached the wife of Meyer’s strength coach Tad Sayce, Toni, while at Brown. Plus, Kredich loves the VASA Trainer, something Meyer swears by in his training.
“Matt has such a great reputation in the sport, and so many people say such great things about him,” Meyer said. “I know that I will be able to pick his brain, and I’m looking forward to hearing some ideas from him on using the VASA Trainers more effectively. Matt embraces the machines, and I have used them a lot since I started figuring them out on my own at Harvard and learned some about them from Fran.”
It still came down to Meyer feeling comfortable with Fenwick as a primary coach, and he was definitely sold on him after a bit of a feeling out process.
“Tyler is a really passionate guy and really committed,” Meyer said. “He loves coaching, and he’s fully bought into what it means to be a professional swimmer. If there is ever a point that I need to do something away from the college scene, I know I can go to a different pool and he will support that. He’s also single, and without a wife and kids, Tyler has the time to devote to extra or later practices for me when I need them.”
“Tim also called Tyler on his own to talk about my training, and they have a lot of mutual respect,” Meyer continued. “Tim gave his blessing to everything, and that makes me feel really good because we still have a great relationship. Also, Tyler really understands that Tim is important to me.”
But, when all was said and done, Meyer still had to like Tennessee as a training site as well. With UT boasting three separate 50-meter pools, and a bountiful amount of open water locations, Meyer was sold.
“The environment here in Knoxville is what makes this opportunity so great,” Meyer said. “I have a coach who is fully committed to open water in Tyler, and a couple of college kids invested in the 10K as well (with David Heron and Evan Pinion). And, there’s plenty of open water in the area. We just went and trained at an old rock quarry, and I get to go down to Chattanooga this weekend to take part in the Swim in the Suck.”
Although Meyer was in town to sign a lease on an apartment, he will not move to Knoxville full time until the beginning of November. He also plans on traveling back to the Boston area regularly to connect with his friends and family in the area.
Look back at some of Meyer’s career:
