In Play(er) of the Week, our goal is to highlight Wesleyan athletes or parts of games that deserve extra attention.

Originally from Reisterstown, Md., Brody Schrepfer ’28 is a member of the men’s swimming team who intends to double major in government and Romance Studies. Schrepfer is in the middle of an impressive first year swimming for Wes. At the Wesleyan-hosted Jayden Szkirka Memorial Championships on Dec. 6–7, he broke four school records. In the 400m medley relay and the 200m medley relay, he swam quick breaststroke legs on the Cardinals’ way into the record books, and he individually set two records in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m breaststroke. While this may already seem impressive, he’s looking to shave down those times even more at the NESCAC Championship, which kicks off on Feb. 20 in Middlebury, Vt. The Argus sat down with Schrepfer to discuss his beginnings in swimming, success in his first year, and dynamics on the team. 

The Argus: When did you first start swimming competitively?

Brody Schrepfer: I’ve been in the pool since three, jumping off the diving board and swimming at the summer pool, but competitively [swimming] since seven. In New Jersey, I trained with a basic high school team, and then when we moved to Maryland in 2014, I joined North Baltimore Aquatic Club, which is actually Michael Phelps’ club team. I swam with them for about 6–7 years, and then I switched to Annapolis Swim Club. I trained with them for two years, and then got recruited to Wes.

A: Did you play any other sports growing up?

BS: I played soccer for a while but ultimately had to give it up to fully commit to swimming. 

A: Can you talk about how you ended up at Wesleyan?

BS:  It was a bit of a tumultuous journey, because I decided to take a gap year. Late [my] senior year, recruiting wasn’t really where I wanted. So I decided to take a gap year to sort of reevaluate and give some more time. Ultimately, Wes was the place to be. I visited in January last year, decided to commit Early Decision II in March, visited [Head Swim Coach] Vanessa [Williamson] and the team, and spent a practice and a night here, and it was everything I wanted. 

A: I know you already mentioned Michael Phelps, but do you have any other swimming inspirations?

BS: Andrew Wilson. He swam at Emory [University] for four years, and he entered kind low on the roster [as a] walk-on. Over four years, he worked his way up, working hard and sort of breaking out with his swims. He ultimately qualified for the Olympics. He was the first DIII swimmer to qualify for the Olympics, and just kind of an inspiration coming from sort of rags to riches, from the bottom of the roster to literally top the world. He’s a breaststroker, too.

A: What’s the biggest difference between swimming in high school versus swimming in college?

BS: In high school and age group swimming, which is what we call it, it’s a lot of preparation. It’s really focused on the times, because the times get the calls and get the commitments. But once you’re in college, you’re doing it because you want to, and you’re in a group of people that want to swim and choose to swim every single day. They wake up and put in the work at 6 a.m. and at 6 p.m. twice a day, every day. It’s doing it because you want to do it, and it’s much more intentional and fun.

A: Sometimes, swimming can feel like an individual sport, since unless you are doing a relay, you are pretty much out there by yourself. How does the team make it feel like a team sport?

BS: A unique feature of the Wes Swim and Dive program is we have a large enough pool and a flexible enough schedule to train both men and women together. Usually, you would train just men and women [separately] throughout the week, and then you have meets together, obviously, but we train every single day together. There’s only one day a week that we practice just the men’s and women’s team [individually]. So not only does it feel bigger, but there’s a lot more energy and momentum. It’s less stagnant because you have lots of different dynamics going on with different kinds of people.

A: Your main event is breaststroke. Has that always been your main event? When did that become the main focus for you?

BS: Yeah, I’ve always been a breaststroke, [individual medley], freestyler. It’s shifted over the years. I used to do more distance events. Now I do more mid-distance, but [the focus on] breaststroke has been consistent. 

A: Is there anything about breaststroke in particular that makes you excel at it?

BS: It might be my best stroke, but I don’t know if it’s my favorite stroke. It’s one of the hardest strokes in a hidden way, because it doesn’t seem visually the most difficult, but technically, it takes a lot of precision and intention. And so I don’t know if it’s my favorite, but it’s definitely my best.

A: On Dec. 6–7, you broke four school records, either at individual breaststroke events or for legs in medley relays. I know it’s been a minute, but does anything stick out to you from those particular swims?

BS: The sport of swimming, and this might be just for me, [is] 90 percent a mental sport. You can put in the work every single day and train and get that consistency, but what changes on race day is the mentality. And you can have 100 percent practice and 100 percent effort, but if the mental game isn’t locked in on race day, once you get up on the blocks, it’s really hard to put that into movement and into a good time. So that day, it was halfway through the season, and it was right before exams, and lots of energy and momentum moving into that meet. I got up in the blocks, and I told myself to not think about it too much. And it was just like any other race day. I knew that I’d put in the work and I’d put in the days and the hours and the 6 a.m.s and the lifts, and it was just about swimming, doing what I do best, and trying not to think too much about it.

A: How did you find out that you had broken all of these records?

BS: My personal best times are faster than the records. So I knew coming in that that was going to be one of my goals for the season: to break some records, and make some waves in the pool. I was almost surprised that it happened so early in the season, only halfway through. And that’s given me some encouragement moving into the end of the season in two weeks with champs at Middlebury. So I’m excited to break some more.

A: Considering this is your first year at Wesleyan, what has the impact been like of the captains and the seniors and what wisdom have they bestowed upon you that has helped you this year?

BS: As I mentioned, since the men and women have joint practices, I kind of, I also get benefits from the women’s [team’s] leaders. It’s the perfect meet day hype. They’ve taught us all the cheers and all the team mottos. I don’t think the team would be as momentous as it is without both sides of the team captains, working together. It’s just something that is totally unique that most of the teams do not have. 

A: What are you looking forward to for the rest of the season, and what should excite people about Wesleyan Swim and Dive?

BS: People are going to be looking for the headlines: breaking records and first place finishes. And for me, that’s great. But what people don’t see is 99 percent of the work behind the scenes. The 6 a.m.s, the lifts, two practices every single or every other day. And for me, I’ve got all that weight on my back, and now it’s just time to dive in the pool. I’m not worried so much about the result. I know I’m going to do well, or I’m excited to do well, but I know that I’ve put in the work this season, and I’m already proud of that. So this championship season, this championship meet, will just be the cherry on top for me. I think that’s the consensus of the team. We know how hard we’ve worked, and there’s already a sense of fulfillment, but we’re gonna absolutely do our best and see what we can do at Middlebury.

A: Anything else important about the team that you want us to talk about?

BS: I think right now, the team’s in a bit of a rebuilding stage, but we have lots of momentum. We’ve got new recruits coming in, and we have a dedicated [first-year], sophomore and junior class. I think the seniors, coming from a different team culture two years ago, have set up the team to continue this momentum moving forward. I’m excited to see the junior class next year, how they lead the group, and these new recruits coming in. So, we’re on the up and up, and it’s exciting to see. It’s gonna take the whole team. It takes a village, but I think the village is ready, and they want it to happen. I’m excited to see what the future has in store.

Max Forstein can be reached at mforstein@wesleyan.edu.