Home Away From Home
December 24, 2009 11:03 AM | General
December 24, 2009
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| Jared Goldthorpe |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University swimmer Jared Goldthorpe is faced with an unfortunate circumstance during the holiday season, but it’s one that he believes will turn out just fine.
Goldthorpe, a New South Wales, Australia, resident, is unable to make it home for the holidays. It will be the first time he has spent time away from his family during Christmas, but it is a situation that he was prepared to encounter when he chose to win at West Virginia University.
However, the touted freshman is optimistic about the dilemma he is facing. That’s because he has a roommate in freshman swimmer Tim O’Malley who has taken him under his wing since he first arrived in the United States. With the help of O’Malley and his relatives, Goldthorpe will at least have a family feel when he spends the holidays with them out West.
“Unfortunately, I’m unable to go home,” Goldthorpe said remorsefully. “But my roommate and I have developed a real good bond here as well as his family, and he’s going to take me to California with him. We’ve become real close and he’s going to take me on a tour to Hollywood and Riverside, so it will be fun.”
O’Malley is a resident of Fullerton, a well-known place in Orange County that is ideal for a vacation spot. With Goldthrope unable to return home, O’Malley decided that he couldn’t let one of his good friends spend his time alone in Morgantown during the holidays. For Goldthorpe, California at Christmas is similar to Australia in one respect.
“Christmas in Australia is boiling hot,” Goldthorpe said. “Everyone at home thought I was going to have a white Christmas (in Morgantown), but in California it’s fairly hot as well.”
Having experienced the difficulty of coming to a new country, or even a new continent, Goldthorpe has been immersed in the close-knit relationship that the men’s and women’s swimming and diving team has. Certainly, his ability to glide so well in the water helps in building camaraderie, but whether he succeeds or fails in each meet, he knows that he has a good group of friends that will support him in and out of the WVU Natatorium.
“It definitely is hard taking a step away from family, friends, relationships and everything, and coming to a place where I felt like I had nothing,” Goldthorpe said of his overseas journey. “Throughout my time, the sport itself ends up becoming your family. You rely on your friends that you’ve developed in the pool to basically stand by you, and they are now your family. It’s good to have that support - especially from Hugh Simmonds, George Farquhar and Tim Field - the other three boys from Australia. They all know what I’m going through, so we can all relate to each other a lot more.”
Goldthorpe brings a boatload of international experience to the WVU swimming and diving program, something that should help him earn national recognition by the time he leaves campus. He placed second in the 400 medley relay at the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Games, represented Australia and won gold medals in five events at the 2008 Commonwealth Games in India and was the youngest competitor in the Beijing Olympic trials last season.
The energetic, well-spoken swimmer has fond memories of his quest to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games, mainly because the trials were held close to his home in Australia.
“It was good to have the home environment,” Goldthorpe mentioned. “I achieved fairly well results in the 200 backstroke, which I consider to be my main event. I ended up getting fifth in that event. It was a great experience, the crowd really gets behind you and you feed off that.”
Goldthorpe is just scratching the surface. He has the speed, drive and determination to outlast his opponents in the water, and has his sights on more competitions outside of intercollegiate athletics that can benefit his career.
“I definitely have plans to go to the Olympics and next year’s Pan-Am Games and Pan-Pacific Games,” Goldthorpe said. “Those are definitely some of my goals I’d like to achieve. We’ve got BIG EAST’s coming up in February, so it should be a good time to race.”
Goldthorpe had the goal of swimming competitively when he was effortlessly defeating his opponents as a child. The sport seemed to come naturally for him at a young age, and when he started training rigorously, he knew that it was something he was destined to do for a good portion of his life.
“I’ve been swimming since I was 3 years old in my grandfather’s backyard pool. Then I participated in this club meet which was on Saturdays and raced. From there, I was getting good results but I wasn’t training, and all of the sudden I was beating all of the kids that were training,” Goldthorpe said. “So I thought to myself to try out training, and I like that daily physical challenge. It was good because within 3-4 months I ended up getting a state title and I progressed to with national titles.”
Goldthorpe has been satisfied with what this year’s WVU squad has accomplished so far, but with much of the season remaining, he believes there is plenty for the group to achieve. The men’s and women’s swimming and diving team has defeated Cincinnati and Villanova in Big East meets, while the men’s team placed third in the competitive Ohio State Invitational behind the Buckeyes and Minnesota.
In the 200 back, Goldthorpe excelled at the Invitational by setting a school record with a time of 1:44:03. He also finished first in the same event against Cincinnati, Louisville and Villanova.
“With our results from the five meets, we’re becoming swimmers all in all,” Goldthorpe said. “Overall, I would say that we’ve achieved some good results. At the start of the year, because we did bring in a big freshmen team, it was only the start. Throughout the bonding, we’re only going to get stronger.”
And as Goldthorpe enjoys his holiday season, he knows that bonding with others won’t be a problem. Whether it’s with his teammates or with the O’Malley’s on Christmas day, Goldthorpe knows that he has a second family through the West Virginia swimming and diving program.
After all, it is the season of giving. For Goldthorpe to be taken into a new home during the holiday season is just another example of the Christmas spirit – one that is filled with charity, generosity and unselfishness.
