Where Are They Now'
December 13, 2006 | Men's Swimming & Diving
As one of the many past and current Badger swimmers from Chico, Calif., three-time All-American Dale Rogers stood out as one of the most decorated during his four seasons in the pool. Two years after his final college laps in 2004, Rogers still holds UW records in the 100 free, 200 and 400 free relays and 200 and 400 medley relays.
After five years at the UW, Rogers is now living and training in Austin, Texas, for the Pan American Games. Held every four years, the Pan American Games showcases world class competition and will run July 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While training, Rogers had the opportunity to swim against his former team when the Badgers traveled down to Austin, Nov. 30-Dec. 2 for the Texas Invite. Rogers competed in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events (the events he plans to swim at the Pan American Games) and according to him, he did not lose to any of his former teammates.
Where are you living and working now '
I moved here (Austin, Texas) right after I graduated. I train at the University of Texas. I work for a running specialty store called RunTex. I have every girls' dream job 'I'm a shoe buyer. They're all running shoes but I buy all the shoes for the three stores here and an online store, so I buy the shoes for all of them.
How is training going for the Pan American Games '
It's really hard. It's one of the best core group of guys in the world that I train with down here. There's four of them are world record holders and Olympic medalists and there's probably eight of them that have been on different US National teams. It's definitely hard but it's a really great place to train, I get a lot of competition every day so it's going well.
How has your mechanical engineering degree from UW assisted you in your chosen career'
Not for my job but I'm rebuilding an old Mustang. I went into engineering because I wanted to design and build either off-road or car parts either for old classic cars and stuff or for off-road four-wheelers and motorcycles. So I'm kind of using it in that sense because I do a lot of mechanical stuff with the car. It's just a hobby though, not an actual job.
What is a typical day like for you '
Typical day for me is I get up and go swim 6:30-8 a.m. then I'll grab something to eat on my way to work and then I work from about 8:30 or 9 a.m. until 1 or 1:30. I 'm in the weight room from like 1:45-3 p.m. and then I swim 3-5 p.m. Sometimes I 'll stop back by work for a little bit after practice. I usually get home around 7 p.m. or so.
What was your favorite memory from being at Wisconsin '
Hanging out at the terrace was pretty good. I believe either my junior or my senior year they announced the All-American swimmers on the football field and we stripped our clothes down and ran around in Speedos around the stadium during the homecoming football game. I got a call later from my mom that day and she said 'I saw you running around naked on TV.' I was like Oh God. That was a pretty good one.
What was the best thing about being a Badger '
There are Badger fans everywhere. They're good at so many different sports like the cross country team is dominant cross country team ' they're well known, I work for a running specialty store down here so everyone knows them down here. The football team is always very well known, the volleyball team is good ' everywhere I go there are Wisconsin Badger fans.
What life lessons did you learn during college '
I learned to be much more diligent whether it was like training or with school or whatever. It sucks a lot of times, things are not always going to go your way in your job or for me it's generally more related to swimming but eventually you keep working at it and it'll come around and you'll get what you paid for.
What was your favorite class at Wisconsin '
Probably Fluid Dynamics or Computer Graphics and analysis, that one was pretty cool too.
What was your favorite part of campus' Where did you spent most of your time'
I spent most of my time in the mechanical engineering lobby, that was probably my least favorite part right there but that's where I spent all of my time. My favorite part of campus was either the terrace or the fields over by the Natatorium.
What advice would you give current student athletes '
Don't get stressed out with school. I noticed the more stressed about school I was, which usually meant I was slacking off or something, so I got more stressed when I was behind, which was my own fault. But the more stressed I was, the harder it was to swim or train or compete or whatever. The more relaxed you were made it much better training and competing. So just relax.
Are the Pan American Games the end of swimming for you '
Oh no, that's not the end. I plan on swimming at least until 2008 for the Olympics and that's my biggest goal to make the Olympic team. Then after that I don 't know, I'll see. I haven't decided if I want to keep swimming after that, or not ' if I'm still liking it and still able to do it and support myself then I'll probably keep swimming for who knows how long.
