Male Breakout Athlete: Dave Cromwell

Two years ago, David Cromwell wasn’t headed to the NCAA Championships or Olympic Trials. Hell, he didn’t even know if he’d be heading down to Blodgett Pool much longer.

Hailing from Missoula, Mont., the then-freshman backstroker wasn’t exactly enjoying the transition from small-town club swimming to the intercollegiate scene and, for a while at least, wasn’t quite sure that he’d be staying between the lanes.

“There isn’t exactly a whole lot of swimming going on in Montana,” Cromwell said. “Every morning was like jumping into icy-cold water. I just didn’t want to be there.”

But despite that initial antipathy, Cromwell didn’t walk away. He made the daily treks across the Charles from the Yard, swam the countless pre-season laps and slowly grew accustomed to the grind he’d been so hard pressed to subject himself to upon his arrival. The results were not instantly breathtaking and at least initially Cromwell bounced between a handful of events without assuming a regular position in any of them. But those merely solid performances were short-lived.

Settling into his backstroke niche, Cromwell quickly transformed top-three performances in both distances from pleasant surprises into standard fare—highlighted by his win in the 100-yard event at H-Y-P and third place finishes at the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League (EISL) Championships. But even as a rising star, Cromwell languished in the second tier of Harvard swimmers, a cut above the rest but just below former captain Dan Shevchik ’03 and John Cole ’04-’05, who consistently brought home multiple event wins at each meet, dominating the Crimson scoring charts. But with Shevchik’s graduation and Cole taking a year away from the College to train uninterrupted for the Olympics, the shadow was lifted, paving the way for a new Crimson standard bearer.

That didn’t necessarily translate into Cromwell’s ascension, however. At least not in his mind.

“Looking back, I guess there was more pressure,” Cromwell said. “But the time between October and November when you’re not racing, you’re just in the pool every day getting your butt kicked by the coaches, you don’t really have time to think about that.”

Instead, Cromwell was dealing with a bout of sophomore slump, battling apathy towards athletics, academics and his social life in a balancing act that was one shove in the wrong direction from spiraling out of control.

“My priorities were all out of order,” Cromwell said. “I’m not quite sure how things would have played out if I hadn’t been so successful.”

Yet, his misgivings were hidden from his teammates by his tireless work ethic and perseverance through it all, as the subconscious changing of the guard proceeded right on schedule with the sophomore more than filling the void left by his predecessor Shevchik.

Against Columbia on Nov. 21, Cromwell routinely coasted to victories in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events, starting his season with the 1-2 punch that had eluded him one season before. If they’d hoped to stop him, his opponents had missed their chance. With his earlier disillusionment squared away, Cromwell mastered the waters and tamed his challengers, rattling off 10 consecutive backstroke victories against rivals from the EISL, Notre Dame and North Carolina, punctuated by a pair of crucial wins at H-Y-P. With Princeton and Harvard slugging it out on the final day and the Tigers mounting a push that threatened to send the Crimson packing empty handed, Cromwell took to the waters in the 200-yard event and swiftly rebutted the advance, staking himself to a 1.18-second lead after just 50 yards before coasting to a 2.66-second victory.

“He’s been one of our stellar performers all throughout this year and we were all quite impressed by his performance this weekend,” co-captain Kemi George said. “He really did a good job of picking up the momentum by winning some key races and swinging things in our favor.”

“We can go into a meet against Princeton,” co-captain Kevin Budris added, “and know Dave Cromwell’s going to win the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard backstroke.”

But the realization was only beginning to set in for Cromwell, who until that point had turned a blind eye to both his rising prominence within the team and the dominant shadow which he cast over the waters of the EISL.

“I didn’t really think of myself as one of the go-to guys until the middle of the season,” Cromwell said. “I didn’t even know about the winning streak until I read it in [The Crimson].”

Not that his newfound recognition undermined his talent. Cromwell again routed all comers at the EISL Championships, taking the 100-yard backstroke and butterfly events, before setting a new meet record in the 200-yard backstroke to extend the streak to 12, besting Shevchik’s former mark by 0.28 seconds to complete his ascension in defeat. Cromwell’s season wasn’t quite over, but the streak soon would be, as Cromwell knew, heading into the NCAA Championships. But that didn’t stop him from going out with a bang. Missing the consolation finals in the 100 meter backstroke by a single position—and one-tenth of a second—Cromwell pulled himself together for one final run.

“My goal was to make [the consolation finals],” Cromwell said, “but I wasn’t really feeling that well. But I saw Rassan [Grant] place 13th, and I fed off that.”

Though he was unable to muster an effort good enough to make the final—18 hundredths of a second off the qualifying time—Cromwell’s heat time earned him a spot in the consolation final and satisfied his goal. He then won the successive heat with a time that, had he been in the final, would have been good enough for seventh, 0.01 seconds out of sixth.

“I know my goal was to make consols,” Cromwell said, “but I was upset when I saw that. But I’d met my goal.”

For now, though, those thoughts are in the past. Cromwell has Olympic Trials in July and, further down the road, a shot at a national title.

“There’s always room to learn and improve,” Cromwell said. “Looking at the returning swimmers next year, [Texas sophomore and reigning world record holder] Aaron Peirsol just turned pro, so I’ll be in the top five coming back.”

And maybe next time, the streak won’t end.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.