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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 1982)
Texas A&M 24, )n sai *n “Famii “ctivcs," il( Alan Cut- e, a spetii Planned fj eration d !ie first da tudytqtb controvenj, oilingsincei tbout the*. ex educate nage sexiiil ptiveuseaw itute The Battalion Sports June 24, 1982 Page 11 Ians for the future A8cM swimming coach Nash believes squad can gain national prominence rrt said moa| lily planiij >r more pro ■e parentu decisions d iior’s note: This is the second jf a two-part series in which Jdi Mel Nash of the Texas AAf swim team discusses his nming and coaching career. says he expects the Aggie Warn to progress each year, he expresses hope that the lean break into the national cib 20 lineup soon. by Frank L. Christlieb Sports Editor His Indiana teammates used Pennsylvaiilcall him “Psycho.” And even c F. Fursicrlovv. Mel Nash understands just (leagues St; liw appropriate that tag was lining clii luring his college swimming Title X, [arm. iced cliiNash, the Aggie swimming - i fth. has spent 19 years swim- >ercentof ming and diving, and has efforts to stroked his way into the high 1 many pt .pool and college record books havebeei time after time. But after to ninevei finishing his college career with I Indiana Hoosiers in 1976, the 27-year-old Nash has found It his desire for competition still lingers. e BCnown throughout college ■mining circles as an intent ffinpetitor who devoted a great „ „ |de;il of time to mental prepara- Cu P 1 ’ f 01 h‘ s races > Nash de- Hoped the “Psycho” nickname, which became his trademark. He still regards that preparation , as a significant contributor to his ,i'iw Sr immin g success - 1 ■ Bln an attempt to bring prom- Mnce to the Texas A&M swim- |ng program, Nash has put to many of the skills and Istrategies he’s learned over the gars, Under the guidance of his Mel Nash Sr., and 24- lar Indiana coach James “Doc” cl by the mimerce Counsilman, the Aggie coach found transition from college swimming into college coaching a smooth experience. But before taking a post as an Indiana assistant coach in 1977, Nash completed a high school and college career that had its fortes and its diminished strains, its victories and its failures, its exciting moments and its dis appointments. Nash, however, says he has no regrets, complaints or second thoughts about his swimming On the 22-hour road trip to Florida during Texas A&M swimming coach Mel Nash’s junior year at Indiana, he did some serious soul- searching about his career and his future. days. When the Hoosiers lost to the USC Trojans by a single point in the NCAA champion ships during his sophomore year in 1974, Nash said, dis appointment set in quickly for him and his teammates. “That was just another 2-by-4 in the face — it was another de pressing experience,” said Nash, who had withstood a previous setback when he missed qual ifying for the 1972 Olympics by two-hundredths of a second. “There were seven different items that we sent to the NCAA as rules infractions at the meet. They had disqualified our relay team, and my father had films showing the relay that we ob viously did not false start on, so we sent those films off to the NCAA Rules Committee. “That was nearly 10 years ago, and we do not have the films back to this day — it was pretty wild,” Nash said. “That’s when I realized that you have to win by so much that there’s no doubt involved. “Don’t play games, because even in swimming, something as cut and dried as who touches the touchpad first can be worked around by the politics.” That summer, Nash said, he didn’t swim well, and “every thing went wrong.” He man aged only a 12th-place finish at the national meet, and by his junior year at Indiana, Nash thought his swimming career might be near its end. The Hoosiers took a trip to Florida for a three-week train ing camp during Nash’s junior season. But on the 22-hour road trip, while his teammates were relaxing and thinking about the next three weeks, Nash did some serious soul-searching about his career and his future. “During 22 hours, you do a lot of thinking,” Nash said. “I went to the back of the van and sat for eight hours straight. It was my sleep period, and I didn’t sleep. “I don’t know if you’ve ever really sat down for eight hours and actually looked inside your self and done a little self therapy. I looked at what I’d done over my swimming and school career. I told myself: ‘You’re very talented, you’re very intelligent, and you’re real ly performing in a mediocre way at this point.’ “So, in that eight-hour period, I reversed the entire negative flow of everything that had been going on,” Nash said. And Nash didn’t waste any time when he and his teammates reached the training camp. “At the time, John Nabor of USC was the big backstroker in the nation,” he said. “Every sing le stroke I took down there, I was saying, out loud, ‘Get Nabor, Beat Nabor.’ They thought I was going a little bit over the edge. “That was all I thought about for the next three months, but I didn’t beat Nabor at the NCAA meet. That was the perfect end of the success story. But I got third in the 100 backstroke at the NCAAs, and got fourth in the 50-meter freestyle that year, and I got seventh in the 200- meter backstroke. I was high point man for Indiana in that meet, and that made my come back.” Nash wanted to compete in the 1976 Olympic trials, but upon advice from the Hoosiers’ Counsilman, he didn’t. After seeing that Nash had injured his back while lifting a refrigerator, and after having seen Nash gain about 15 pounds, the Indiana coach advised his former swim mer to forget about the 1976 Games. When it came time for the 1980 Olympic games, however, Nash’s back had healed, he had lost 15 pounds and he had taken three seconds off his time on the 50-meter backstroke sprint. In the trials, he finished Fifth, and missed the team by 16 one- See NASH page 13 The end of the race staff photo by John Ryan Chris Stegent from Houston crosses the finish line ahead of Longview’s Ron Johnson in the Senior 800-yard dash, which took place during the Track Day sponsored by the All-Sports Camp at Texas A&M. The three-week camp, in which 185 boys and girls are participa ting, will last through next week. 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