June 7, 2011

Stanford swimming has long been known to swim internationally, and this summer is no different.

Bobby Bollier (U.S) Geoff Cheah (Hong Kong), Curtis Lovelace (U.S.)  David Mosko (U.S.)  Eirik Ravnan (Norway), Matthew Swanston (Canada) and Michael Zoldos (Canada) are all slated to swim at the World University Games in China from August 14-19 for their respective countries. At the world championships from July 16 to 31, current distance ace, Chad La Tourette, along with graduates-- Jason and David Dunfords (Kenya), Tobias Oriwol (Canada) and Marcus Rogan (Austria), will all swim.

Previous International Q and A's: Bollier | Cheah |  Lovelace | Mosko | Ravnan | Zoldos | Swanston

Gostanford.com checks in with All-American David Mosko, who was recently granted a fifth year after sitting out the spring with a shoulder injury.

Representing the US is an amazing feeling, but it is also humbling knowing that you are swimming for something much bigger than yourself. The best part is finishing races and being able to dig a little deeper to try and get the win for your country.

 
2) What is the feeling like swimming with some of the best in the world, on your own team? Any specific swimmers that you've learned from, maybe a story or some advice, that they gave to you?


I have learned a lot from teammates. One story that comes to mind involves Paul Kornfeld and Nate Cass. My freshman and sophomore years, they used to make me do open turns every day after practice. They taught me nuances that I had never heard before. Once I had mastered the technique, it became my responsibility to pass it on to future classes.

3) You were injured for much of this season. How hard was it to watch from the sidelines as you healed? What insight did you get from the sidelines?

A lot of people would think that it would have been difficult to watch my teammates, but I had a lot of trust in my teammates and I know how hard they had worked every day. I knew they would have a great year and they did. I wished I had been able to score some points, but I tried to help out on deck as much as I could I felt as much a part of the team this year as I did when I was swimming.

4) What type of physical therapy did you do to get back into shape?

I did a lot of shoulder stability exercises to get the back of my shoulders stronger and a lot of core work. I kept my legs in shape by biking, kicking in the pool and doing other dryland exercises.

5) What made you come to Stanford to begin with, and what has surprised you from your years on the farm?
 

I think the reason I chose Stanford was tradition. I loved the fact that as a Stanford swimmer I would be representing generations of swimming success and I wanted to be a part of that. In addition to swimming tradition, the tradition of Stanford academic excellence is even more renowned and was very
attractive to me as a student-athlete.

6) As a long distance swimmer, what do you think about when you make the turn and keep going and going? What keeps you focused?

What keeps me focused during the long sets and races is trying to beat the person next to me. Racing is my favorite aspect of the sport and when I find myself in a close race, the time seems to fly.