Indiana University Athletics
Feature Article on Sarah Fiden
1/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
January 14, 2003
TAKING THE PLUNGE
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The dark-haired, brown-eyed young woman places the tip of her left foot in the water. She promptly removes her freshly painted toenail from the pool and cringes. Although the pool thermometer displays a water temperature just shy of 80 degrees, she doubts the veracity of such a gauge. To her, it feels ice cold. On a morning when the sun is almost two hours away from opening its eyes, and the outdoor temperature has yet to crack 15, a boiling hot Starbuck’s latte would feel tepid. It is now 5:50 a.m. on January 14.
She tries again, this time with her right foot. Her cheeks crinkle and her eyebrows grow closer together. Again her lowest appendage is removed from what feels like a huge tank of ice. She regroups, starts to pace, shrugs her shoulders, and eventually streamlines into the water. The jolt from the intense cold blast makes her heart beat as if she had just swum twenty 100-yard sets at a ridiculous interval. It’s going to be a long, long, long morning.
Sarah Fiden, who freshly paints her toenails before every meet and glues her swim cap to her head before her longer races (“Erin Rice and Jenny Bechem introduced the concept to me my freshman year so our caps wouldn’t fall off while we race”), is a self-proclaimed morning person. She had better be. She repeats the toe-in, toe-out, routine just about every morning of the year. She then does it all over again every afternoon.
It’s no wonder she looks to cancer conqueror and Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong for inspiration. It is also no surprise that her brother, Drew, 23, who swam at Wright State, is one of the most successful swimmers in the history of the Horizon League. Raised in a family of educators, and she herself aspiring to be one, there’s no good excuse for laziness.
“People who don’t know me probably think I’m intimidating or something,” she said. “The girls on the team say I snarl before and during my races. But from my standpoint, I don’t think I am. I swim to get the job done. I’m committed to my sport, but I also know there is a time to have fun and be crazy.”
Not too crazy, however.
The pool often feels cold and is always wet. As practice ends, no matter how long she showers, Sarah will smell like chlorine for the remainder of the day. Her skin will itch from dryness. Thank goodness she doesn’t have blonde hair. If she did, it may very well be green by now. Sarah has already swum miles. It’s now 7:30 a.m. on January 14.
But the 21-year-old from Kettering, Ohio, isn’t complaining. In many ways she loves practice. She thrives on competition. She relies on herself for just about everything she gets. Sure there is great coaching, and a beautiful practice facility, and tremendous family support, but when you swim lap after lap after lap, day after day after day, you had better rely on yourself.
“It is helpful to come in each day with a positive attitude about workouts,” said Fiden, who is faster than any IU woman in history in the 500, 1,000, and 1,650-yard free. “Otherwise, it’ll be the longest two hours of the day.”
Fiden does, however, get a little help from her friends. You see, she doesn’t compete in one of those events during which you sprint for two laps, huff and puff really fast, dry yourself off and take a seat for the rest of the meet. Instead, she swims about as fast as she can for 20 lengths of a 25-yard pool. That’s her short race. Her long race––it’s a mile. We’re talking about a race here, not training. If it was practice, swimming a mile would be an incredibly easy day.
“I like the mile,” she said. “Sounds crazy, but I love the strategy involved with the longer events. Anyway, I get stronger the longer I go. In training, I rely on my teammates. This year, we have a really strong distance group and we are all going through the same things physically and mentally during workouts. We all know what it’s like to have a bad workout, so we really try to support each other so that we can make it through practice.”
The intention of practice is to improve and, ultimately, to win. Fiden is no stranger to winning. She was successful at an elite level as a youngster––winning a national YMCA title––and her individual triumphs have continued to this day. But the Big One, a Big Ten title, has eluded her. She finished second in both the 500 and 1,650 at the Big Ten meet last spring. She’ll look to place one notch higher in 2003.
“Personally, I want to finish out the year undefeated in dual meets,” said Fiden. “I want to win the mile at Big Tens and place in the top eight at NCAAs.”
The person that first attracted to Sarah to IU, Susan Woessner, an All-American for the Hoosiers in 2000 and 2001, knows a lot about winning Big Ten Championships, having stood highest on the medal stand at the completion of both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke at the 2002 conference meet. She is also too familiar with finishing second, as she trailed only the incomparable world record holder Natalie Coughlin in the 100 back at last year’s NCAA championships.
“Susan said good things about (head coach) Dorsey (Tierney) and the team and explained that IU was an up-and-coming program. I wanted a challenge and didn’t want to be a ‘big fish in a small pond,’ which is what I would have been at some of the other schools I considered,” said Fiden.
A big fish in a small pond really isn’t Sarah’s style. There wouldn’t be enough competition. It would be too easy.
“Sarah’s sort of been the bridesmaid at Big Ten for the last couple of years,” said IU women’s head coach Dorsey Tierney, the mentor whom Fiden describes as dedicated, driven, and motivated. “She has definitely made the commitment to take that next step.”
Sarah’s back at the pool again. The water isn’t any warmer. She isn’t any less tired. She swam miles during the first practice session of the day. She spent the remainder of the morning and early afternoon in class. She sticks her foot in the pool. She pulls it out. It’s cold again. But there’s no time to wait. There are miles of water to be traveled. There is a championship to win. It’s 2:00 p.m. on January 14.
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