Indiana University Athletics
Student Spotlight: Max Irwin
10/24/2016 9:20:00 AM | General, Men's Swimming and Diving, Student-Athlete Services
By: Nick Reith
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Max Irwin grew up in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center under the watchful eye of Mark Spitz, Gary Hall and the rest of the legends who appear on the walls of Indiana's swimming complex. A native of Bloomington since 2006 and a member of the Bloomington Swim Club, founded by Doc Counsilman in the 1950s, Irwin was familiar with the athletes, coaches and icons that touched the Indiana swimming program over the years.
That didn't make his first walk onto the deck as a college swimmer any less humbling.
"Being there on the deck, I said to myself, 'Wow, this is college swimming, and this is the Indiana University swim team,'" Irwin said. "It was quite a feeling. Fred Glass always talks about being a part of something bigger than yourself, and when I walked in and joined the program I definitely felt that."
Irwin has since earned his keep in the program's legacy. Last season, Irwin aided his 800 freestyle relay team to a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, earning Honorable Mention All-America honors. Irwin begins his final season with Indiana and he's preparing for a tough season of training with and against his teammates after the Hoosiers' success at the Rio Summer Olympics.
Irwin is honored by the thought of being a part of pushing those swimmers to the Olympic medal stand, but he knows that the iron sharpens both ways. He owes a lot of his continuation in swimming to his Indiana teammates. Some, like gold medalist Blake Peroni, have competed against Irwin since their days in age group at 11 years-old.
"He was very fast back then too," Irwin laughed. "I count everyone on the team as a great friend, Blake particularly. He and I are similar in age and he, along with the other guys from Indiana—Cody Taylor and Ian Finnerty—are all very close. Even if I can't make the Olympic team, knowing that I had some influence on him as someone to race or motivating him in one way or another, it feels good to know that I could help in some little way."
***
It's no secret that for many college athletes the physical exertion of their sport can help to manage the stress that piles on during a rigorous academic year. Their sport becomes a "release" of sorts as they try to decompress from studying for a midterm or writing a term paper.
For Irwin, it's almost the opposite. A double major in mathematics and physics, combined with the mindset of a perfectionist, Irwin has a relentless pursuit for knowledge. He sees his schoolwork as a release from swimming, because after a long day at the pool, he's eager to sharpen his mind.
"I feel like academics and book smarts have always come naturally—I can read a textbook and the information stays there," said Irwin. "I've always had to work my rear off to be the least bit successful at swimming. So I work a lot at swimming and the schoolwork comes a lot more naturally."
Away from the pool and the classroom, Irwin is heavily involved in the Excellence Academy. One of his favorite groups to work with is the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which works with the NCAA as student representatives in the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. Irwin joined the group as an observer in his sophomore year, and was so enamored by the process that he ran for and achieved a position on the executive board.
"I was a lot more attuned to what was going on in my second year, and I learned a lot more about what SAAC did and what they stood for: giving athletes a voice," Irwin said. "Coming in, I would've never thought that students had that much voice or sway in the decisions made, and I'm a huge fan of that."
Irwin continues to see the things he loved about his childhood resurface in his day-to-day life. Two elements in particular are shaping his time as an athlete and in his internship at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division near Bedford, Indiana.
The first? Irwin gives a great deal of credit to his time with the Boy Scouts of America, especially his pursuit and achievement of the highest honor in scouting, the rank of Eagle Scout.
One of the core beliefs of the Boy Scouts is that the troops are both run and led by the scouts themselves. Irwin served as the Senior Patrol Leader of his Troop 100 in Bloomington for two years, and in that time he learned a lot about group dynamics, leadership and motivating others.
"I was the leader of the group, and a lot of them are 10 to 14 years old, and they don't always want to do what they need to do advance in rank," Irwin said. "It helped me learn how to talk to people who need motivating and leadership. If you can figure out how to motivate young teenagers and get them to work together, college students don't always seem so bad."
Irwin also sees the joys of his childhood in his future career. Currently, his internship at NSWC Crane has him working on fixing the Navy's advanced technical equipment in need of repairs while observing the process of designing new technologies.
In a lot of ways, the work Irwin is doing at Crane reminds him of playing with Legos, something he and his brother would do for hours a day as children.
"In my work there's a lot of CAD (Computer Assisted Design) diagrams, and there are pages and pages of instructions," Irwin said with an excitement in his eyes. "It's very much like the instructions in the Lego boxes, but they're a lot more complicated with all of the specifications for the different parts. That's a really beautiful sort of artwork, where you take something and measure it, and say exactly what it is with the specifications for how you put it together."
Irwin can't wait to see what heights he and the Indiana swimming and diving team will reach this season. The men's team began their year with two wins last weekend over Texas and Florida, and Irwin took fifth-place in the 200-meter butterfly with a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter butterfly.
The Hoosiers have lofty goals for the season, with their aim set on a Big Ten Championship and a top-four trophy finish at the NCAA meet. The conference title would be of particular significance to Irwin, as the Hoosiers haven't won it since he moved to Bloomington in 2006.
"Michigan has won every time since then, so we'd really like to beat them," Irwin said. "Hopefully, the meets against Texas and Florida will show that we have put work in and are heading in the right direction towards a top-four NCAA finish."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Max Irwin grew up in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center under the watchful eye of Mark Spitz, Gary Hall and the rest of the legends who appear on the walls of Indiana's swimming complex. A native of Bloomington since 2006 and a member of the Bloomington Swim Club, founded by Doc Counsilman in the 1950s, Irwin was familiar with the athletes, coaches and icons that touched the Indiana swimming program over the years.
That didn't make his first walk onto the deck as a college swimmer any less humbling.
"Being there on the deck, I said to myself, 'Wow, this is college swimming, and this is the Indiana University swim team,'" Irwin said. "It was quite a feeling. Fred Glass always talks about being a part of something bigger than yourself, and when I walked in and joined the program I definitely felt that."
Irwin has since earned his keep in the program's legacy. Last season, Irwin aided his 800 freestyle relay team to a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, earning Honorable Mention All-America honors. Irwin begins his final season with Indiana and he's preparing for a tough season of training with and against his teammates after the Hoosiers' success at the Rio Summer Olympics.
Irwin is honored by the thought of being a part of pushing those swimmers to the Olympic medal stand, but he knows that the iron sharpens both ways. He owes a lot of his continuation in swimming to his Indiana teammates. Some, like gold medalist Blake Peroni, have competed against Irwin since their days in age group at 11 years-old.
"He was very fast back then too," Irwin laughed. "I count everyone on the team as a great friend, Blake particularly. He and I are similar in age and he, along with the other guys from Indiana—Cody Taylor and Ian Finnerty—are all very close. Even if I can't make the Olympic team, knowing that I had some influence on him as someone to race or motivating him in one way or another, it feels good to know that I could help in some little way."
***
It's no secret that for many college athletes the physical exertion of their sport can help to manage the stress that piles on during a rigorous academic year. Their sport becomes a "release" of sorts as they try to decompress from studying for a midterm or writing a term paper.
For Irwin, it's almost the opposite. A double major in mathematics and physics, combined with the mindset of a perfectionist, Irwin has a relentless pursuit for knowledge. He sees his schoolwork as a release from swimming, because after a long day at the pool, he's eager to sharpen his mind.
"I feel like academics and book smarts have always come naturally—I can read a textbook and the information stays there," said Irwin. "I've always had to work my rear off to be the least bit successful at swimming. So I work a lot at swimming and the schoolwork comes a lot more naturally."
Away from the pool and the classroom, Irwin is heavily involved in the Excellence Academy. One of his favorite groups to work with is the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which works with the NCAA as student representatives in the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. Irwin joined the group as an observer in his sophomore year, and was so enamored by the process that he ran for and achieved a position on the executive board.
"I was a lot more attuned to what was going on in my second year, and I learned a lot more about what SAAC did and what they stood for: giving athletes a voice," Irwin said. "Coming in, I would've never thought that students had that much voice or sway in the decisions made, and I'm a huge fan of that."
***
Irwin continues to see the things he loved about his childhood resurface in his day-to-day life. Two elements in particular are shaping his time as an athlete and in his internship at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division near Bedford, Indiana.
The first? Irwin gives a great deal of credit to his time with the Boy Scouts of America, especially his pursuit and achievement of the highest honor in scouting, the rank of Eagle Scout.
One of the core beliefs of the Boy Scouts is that the troops are both run and led by the scouts themselves. Irwin served as the Senior Patrol Leader of his Troop 100 in Bloomington for two years, and in that time he learned a lot about group dynamics, leadership and motivating others.
"I was the leader of the group, and a lot of them are 10 to 14 years old, and they don't always want to do what they need to do advance in rank," Irwin said. "It helped me learn how to talk to people who need motivating and leadership. If you can figure out how to motivate young teenagers and get them to work together, college students don't always seem so bad."
Irwin also sees the joys of his childhood in his future career. Currently, his internship at NSWC Crane has him working on fixing the Navy's advanced technical equipment in need of repairs while observing the process of designing new technologies.
In a lot of ways, the work Irwin is doing at Crane reminds him of playing with Legos, something he and his brother would do for hours a day as children.
"In my work there's a lot of CAD (Computer Assisted Design) diagrams, and there are pages and pages of instructions," Irwin said with an excitement in his eyes. "It's very much like the instructions in the Lego boxes, but they're a lot more complicated with all of the specifications for the different parts. That's a really beautiful sort of artwork, where you take something and measure it, and say exactly what it is with the specifications for how you put it together."
***
Irwin can't wait to see what heights he and the Indiana swimming and diving team will reach this season. The men's team began their year with two wins last weekend over Texas and Florida, and Irwin took fifth-place in the 200-meter butterfly with a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter butterfly.
The Hoosiers have lofty goals for the season, with their aim set on a Big Ten Championship and a top-four trophy finish at the NCAA meet. The conference title would be of particular significance to Irwin, as the Hoosiers haven't won it since he moved to Bloomington in 2006.
"Michigan has won every time since then, so we'd really like to beat them," Irwin said. "Hopefully, the meets against Texas and Florida will show that we have put work in and are heading in the right direction towards a top-four NCAA finish."
Players Mentioned
Multi
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
Fly/Free
/ Men's Swimming and DivingFB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Bray Lynch - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Spring Practice - Curt Cignetti Press Conference
Thursday, April 16