Behind the Red: Sandy Chase

Monday, 23 November 2009 11:33 |

Written by Colin McPhail |

Sandy swimming - Gary Manning / The Brunswickan

In the first installment of ‘Behind the Red’, The Brunswickan chose a member of its writing family to profile, only to find out he’s a member of several families. Twenty -year old Halifax native Sandy Chase is not only a writer and photographer for The Brunswickan, but is an important asset to the UNB residence community, a member of Scouts Canada, and is in his second year of a Mechanical Engineering Degree. However, what we’re interested in is Chase’s membership on the Varsity Reds swim team.

The Brunswickan was able to sit down with Chase and talk about his journey into UNB, the swimming program and a number of other things he belongs to.

Brunswickan: How did you get involved in swimming?

Sandy Chase: I’ve been swimming for eleven years now. This is my twelfth now. My parents signed me up for it when I was a little kid and I’ve always just kind of stuck with it because I loved it. I’ve always been fairly involved. I was involved in soccer, sailing, surfing, and swimming – obviously.

B: Why did you choose UNB?

SC: Basically I wanted to stay in the Maritimes. So, my choices for swim teams were Dalhousie, Memorial or UNB. Dal – I would have had to live at home. So, that was scratched off the list. So it was between Memorial and UNB and, I guess, UNB makes it easier to go home on the weekends and they have a bigger travel team for swimming, and Memorial doesn’t travel as much because it costs so much to fly. I guess that was really the reason for it.

B: How did you get involved with Varsity Reds swimming?

SC: I tried out and prayed like hell that I would make the team. I swam before, so I figured I had a reasonably good shot. I went to all the practices and I was half terrified that I wasn’t going to make the team just ‘cause I didn’t think I was that fast at the time. I was initially put in a probationary spot. As long as I made all the practices, then I’d get on the team. So, I made all the practices except I was almost an hour late for my first practice because I slept through my alarm. I still made it down the hill and showed up for practice, as soon as everyone was finishing up.

B: Was there someone to help you along the way or was this more of a solo effort?

SC: You do it as a team, but most of it is an independent sport. You’re racing against yourself most of the time. You are racing other people, but you’re racing your times as well.

B: How do you push yourself through the all the training?

SC: Ultimately, when it comes down to swimming, if you want to go to the practices, you’re the only who’s going to get yourself out of bed at 5:30 in the morning and drag your ass down the hill in the middle of winter and go to practice.

B: What is your future plan for swimming?

SC: I plan to swim for the next three years and hopefully make CIS’s.

B: What are some other things you’re involved in?

SC: I’m the Vice President in McLeod house and an alternate proctor. In Scouts, I’m a rover. For the Brunswickan, I sit on the board of directors and am a volunteer writer and photographer.

B: How do you push yourself to be a part of so many groups?

SC: Good question. It’s fun. I don’t know, I’d be bored if I was sitting on my ass doing nothing.

B: Why did you want to get involved in residence?

SC: I went for a proctor position because I was a camp counselor in the summer. So, my job was basically to counsel kids and teach them about leadership. In a similar way, a proctor helps students adapt to UNB, adapt to university life with programming. Orientation week was a hell of lot like a week at camp. It’s a fun job and I like helping people.

B: You seem to be a leader in several groups. How do you fall into that roll?

SC: It just kind of happens. I guess can attribute it to Scouts. A lot of the stuff I learned when I was younger was about how to be a leader. Scouts is really a great program for stuff like that and learning leadership roles. I never really thought about it that much, but it follows you through your life.

B: Is there anybody you’d like to thank for your successes?

SC: All my friends, especially the people at camp. My parents of course make a big difference. Mostly friends for the support.

B: Is there anything you like to say to aspiring V-Reds?

SC: You’ve got to find the balance, that’s key. In grade 12, I was overburdened by doing too much at one time and I stopped and approached everything carefully. It’s ok to say no when people ask you to do stuff sometimes. Don’t worry about the small stuff too. The four best words in the world – “don’t worry about it.” If there’s a small issue that’s bothering you, just look at the big picture.