Confidence

Karl Michael '29

Men's Swimming (1940-1 942; 1946-1970)

When I arrived at Dartmouth in 1958, I was a kid who had no confidence. And I could hardly swim at all. The notion of me competing at the college level seemed ludicrous. But I wanted to play a sport, and swimming was something I could work at alone. I took a beginner's swim class. Most coaches seeing me swim as a freshman would have thought I was very much on a fool's errand. But Karl Michael refused to dismiss me out of hand, and that gave me all I needed to keep on. I'm sure he wouldn't remember the first time he saw me. But I showed up at the pool alone, quite often, and he had to have noticed that.

He was a very gruff man. I remember one weekend I went down to the pool to do a mile of leg kicks. I saw him standing, looking out over the pool. I thought he'd be impressedthis was the off-season, and I was the only one there. But when I was three-quarters of the way through he yelled down, "Get out of the pool if you're only going to go through the motions! Don't even bother unless you're going to do it right!" Rather than being praised for my work ethic, I remember being crushed. The fact that he cared enough to criticize me, though, left a deep impression. And I learned something then about trying to gain without pain.

I made the team my junior year, and competed my senior year. I think I even actually beat some people. It had already become clear to me, though, that Karl Michael believed sport is for developing the person, not for developing AllAmericans. At the end of my senior year he pulled me into his office to tell me I'd be getting a letter sweater. He wasn't his usual gruff self. In essence, he said, "You deserve this." His tone implied a respectful recognition. That meant far more to me than if he had been gushing or syrupy. That letter sweater was the ultimate for someone of my ability.

The irony is that, years later, I was part of a master's swim team that set a world record (primarily because we had'three superstars and me). Swimming, to this day, has remained an important part of my life.

I very rarely went back to Dartmouth, until after I had gotten into politics. When I finally did go back, I stopped in to see him. I think he was rather proud of what I ended up doing. I told him that had it not been for him nurturing me on the swim team, I never would have had the confidence to join the Peace Corps in Ethiopia. And had I not gone into the Peace Corps, I never would have chosen a career in public service. I got the sense he didn't believe this strange linkage. But there's absolutely no doubt in my mind.

"He caredenoughto criticizeme."