The third
Best of U. feature of 2009-10 profiles University of Vermont senior swimmer Molly MacMillan. MacMillan is a tri-captain for the Catamounts and is an all-conference performer. The Catamounts are 6-2 this season thus far and 2-2 against league foes. MacMillan will be competing in her final America East Championship on February25-28 at Boston University's Aquatic Center and defending her title in the 1650 freestyle. This feature is written by Ben Dickie of University of Vermont Athletic Communications.
One of the top swimmers in the
America East, Vermont senior Molly MacMillan has helped transform the
Catamounts into one of the strongest programs in the league since arriving on
campus in 2006. A two-time America East Champion in the 1,650 freestyle, her
drive in the pool has helped Vermont improve its finish in the final league
standings in each of the last three years, but it is her leadership out of the
pool that might be even more valuable.
As a student-athlete with a busy
schedule that includes being a double major, MacMillan has been very active
both in the local community and as someone trying to support change on many
different levels.
During the summer prior to her
junior year MacMillan traveled abroad to study at the University of Granada in
the southern part of Spain. With the collegiate swimming and diving season
spanning both semesters, the summer was the only time that she could experience
the study abroad program without missing valuable pool time.
It was in Granada that MacMillan
accidentally stumbled across a new major (Spanish) and what she has now decided
to write her senior thesis on: water scarcity and mismanagement in the area
surrounding Granada. Having no prior knowledge of what was taking place before her
trip, she plans on looking at the issue in depth and looking at what management
practices for water in the region could be more efficient.
"There was a big issue of water
scarcity and mismanagement and the people didn't have water during the day, but
they were growing crops in the desert," said MacMillan. "A lot of people,
especially in this country take water for granted. They just turn on their
faucet and it's there."
While she was in Spain she swam
with a local team and it was during her practice sessions that she said she
really soaked up the language and decided to add a second major to go with
environmental studies. MacMillan feels that languages come easy to her, but is
more interested in the importance of communication and how powerful it can be.
Having a mother who was a French
major and a father who lived in Montreal for a while, foreign languages were
not foreign to MacMillan.
"Languages just come to me and I
think that communication is very, very important because if you can't
communicate with someone articulately you lose out on so much. Being able to
talk to someone in a different language is like your cracking a code and you're
entering into this whole new world of possibilities, it opens a door into so
many cultures."
Communication is also an
important aspect for MacMillan's role as a tri-captain this season.
"Molly
is a strong individual that leads by example," said Vermont head coach Gerry
Cournoyer. "She expects nothing but perfection from herself and her teammates
see that and respect her for that. She lifts everyone around her and helps to
make each of them better. She has really been a true asset to this program."
Helping Hand
MacMillan hopes that following
graduation she can continue to help communicate to a younger generation
through the Teach for America program. Teach
For America aims to end educational inequality as it locates
high-need schools and finds teachers who want to go in and help make a change,
usually in lower income, rural or inner-city areas. You don't need to be an
education major to be selected, but need to have a passion for social justice,
which she definitely has. MacMillan says she has also been influenced by her
mother, who she sees making a difference everyday teaching in a difficult
environment.
"Even though you can't choose
where you get placed, you can give preferences and I would like to teach in
Philadelphia if I could. I think it would be no doubt difficult, but at the
same time very rewarding. If you don't empower children then you have already
defeated them before they have even graduated high school."
MacMillan was able to see the
influence of change first hand during an internship as a legislative assistant
for Vermont Congressman Peter Welch during the spring semester this past year.
It was there that she was able to get a glimpse of the inner-workings of the
legislative system and processes that take place.
"I am really interested in the
way that the government works and my big thing is that I think the people who
want to effect any kind of change across the board need to understand how the
system works before they seek to change it."
MacMillan's trip to Granada was
not her first eye-opening experience to some of the issues that are effecting
the environment that we live in. With an interest in environmental conservation
work she took part in the Alternative Spring Break program during spring break
of her sophomore year, heading to Louisiana to help in the continuous clean-up
efforts following Hurricane Katrina. She would join other students as they
drove to an area just outside of New Orleans in hopes of helping control the
invasive species that were sprouting up in the aftermath.
"Pioneer species are the first
things that return when everything is destroyed in a fire or disaster.
Hurricane Katrina knocked down all the old growth trees like the ash and oak
that helped provide a shade barrier, but now a new invasive species came in and
it killed off everything because it crowds out other plants. So it was our job
to try and rip the invasive species out, but we did it for four or five days
and it didn't even make a dent."
Volunteering is something that
MacMillan enjoys and she has taken over the role as the
unofficial community service
organizer for the team. In the last year has helped organize work at a local
food bank and the Boys and Girls Club in Burlington.
"Molly
feels very strongly about giving back to the community. Since her freshman year
she has helped organize and has been very involved in many different community
service projects. This commitment has helped to inspire her teammates and has
showed them the value in working with others. Her efforts have helped make our
team stronger," said Cournoyer.
Swimming Success
MacMillan comes from an athletic
family as her mother was a three-time All-America swimmer at the University of
South Carolina and her father was a provincial champion quarterback in high
school in Ontario who also ran track. MacMillan's younger sister Colleen, is
also a freshman on the South Carolina swim team this season.
MacMillan had a lot of support
from her family growing up, as she recalled her father getting up before five
in the morning to eat breakfast with her before swim practice.
"I grew up in an athletic family
that was super competitive. The critiques were hard sometimes but if I wasn't
pushed the way that I was, I wouldn't have been successful in anything."
While swimming was in her blood,
long distance events were not. In high school she swam the 100 back, 200 and 500
free, but never swam any distance events. It wasn't until she arrived on campus
as a freshman that she even tried the 1,000 freestyle. MacMillan says that she
has only taken part in the 1,650 freestyle three times in her life and two of
those turned into back-to-back titles at the America East Championship.
"My mom was a really good
sprinter, but I got the slow twitch muscles so we swim different events. I
always have a big battle with long distance events, because they are not my
favorite. While it is an athletic event, it is more mental than anything. Just
because you might be successful at something doesn't mean that you have to like
it, but I have been trying to learn to for the last three years and sometimes I
can, but sometimes I can't."
"The reason I am in the long
distance events is because I am stubborn and when I get in next to someone it
is more of a personality thing. You can't really see someone's personality in a
50 free, but you can see it in the longer events."
The America East Rookie of the
Year as a freshman, MacMillan was also a member of the first-place 800
freestyle relay team that broke the conference, UVM and BU pool record at
conferences last season. Her accomplishments are impressive, but even more so
because she is a swimmer who is allergic to chlorine.
"It varies from pool to pool, I
sneeze really bad, start itching. There was a time last season when the
chlorine levels were too high at one of our meets when my throat closed up and
I started wheezing and they had to take me out of my events. Sometimes it makes
it tough to breathe, but luckily I feel my body has adjusted to our pool."
MacMillan has seen the team
transform from going 0-2 against America East opponents and a sixth place
finish at the conference championship the year before she arrived, to a squad
that has won 37 meets and is 12-5 against the league over the last four years and
finished third at the conference championship last season.
"It gets harder every year and
the expectations are way higher every year. I think we have seen a stronger
core group of leaders emerge over the last few years. We definitely have a
presence on the deck now. Its not a swagger, but a certain amount of confidence
that you have when you come on the deck and are able to look at a competitor
and know that your going to either beat them or give them a fight. It is a way
that we carry ourselves and operate as a unit instead of a grouping of
individuals."
MacMillan's impact has not gone
unnoticed, as her coach knows that she will be missed next year.
"Molly established herself during her freshman
year as one of the top swimmers in the conference and has unselfishly swam
events that have benefited the team over her own career," added Cournoyer. She
has shown her teammates that they can compete with anyone and be successful.
This is especially noticeable as a mentor to the freshmen classes over the last
three seasons, helping them to realize that they can have an immediate impact
on the program. We are truly a better team with Molly and she will be extremely
hard to replace next season."
America East: Developing Champions in Academics, Athletics and Leadership