68- The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - October 21, 1996
SHAKESPEARE
Continued from Page 18
Games.
Of all her traveling endeavors,
Shakespeare's most memorable experi-
ences were when she traveled to
Argentina and Brazil. She and the rest of
her Canadian teammates were treated
like royalty as the South Americans
treated their guests and athletes with
honor and respect. Shakespeare's face lit
up when she recalled the time she was
leaving Argentina.
"There were about 30 little kids that
had been watching us all week at the
swim meet and that showed up at the air-
port,' she said. "They had driven two
hours just to say good-bye to us and they
had boxes of treats for us to bring on the
plane. It is things like that which I
remember more.
"What I have learned through swim-
ming is so valuable, and I wouldn't
change any of it, Shakespeare said.
In Atlanta last summer, Shakespeare
missed the consolation final in the 100
meter freestyle, coming in 17th by one
one hundredth of a second. She was not
satisfied with her time so she swam first
on the 400 freestyle relay and set a
Canadian national record, which would
have put her sixth in the final. In the
other relays that she swam, Canada's
highest finish was fifth place.
While her list of accomplishments
and achievements in the pool are impres-
sive, it is her own rare experiences of
being a world-class athlete that sets
Shakespeare apart from most of the ath-
letes at Michigan. But there is one area
where she hasn't had a lot of experience.
Shakespeare is still learning and adjust-
ing to being a student-athlete and swim-
ming in the NCAA.
The freshman is finding it a challenge
to balance academics and athletics, espe-
cially aver taking a year off from school
to train for the Olympics. To make the
adjustment a little smoother, she is tak-
ing 12 credits this semester.
The Olympian did have doubts at first
about going to school in America.
Before deciding to attend Michigan,
Shakespeare had visited Stanford and
Florida, other schools with elite swim-
ming programs.
"I always grew up saying that I want to
go to Stanford, and when I went there, it
really let me down," Shakespeare said.
"Now, I am so glad that I am here and
not there:'
In attending Michigan, Shakespeare is
starting a new chapter in her life as she
explores her options for her future
beyond the pool.
"Coming in here this year, I realized
that it is not all about swimming. It is
about a lot of other things," she said. "I
am really excited to find out where my
education is going to lead me and about
exploring other things"
She would like to get involved in
writing and possibly join the radio sta-
tion at Michigan. She has an affinity for
music, taking guitar lessons all last year.
Shakespeare has no plans of putting a
musical act together in the future,
though. Instead, she would like to have a
career within the sports community, pos-
sibly in sports marketing.
There are some people who are criti-
cal of Shakespeare's decision to swim in
America, in particular Swimming
Canada, the governing body of swim-
ming.
"Swimming Canada really frowns
upon their swimmers coming to the U.S.
to train." she said. "There are three of us
that are down here swimming, and the
two guys and I know that as soon as you
leave there are hard feelings involved. So
that has been the hardest part."
Swimming is Canada's No. I amateur
sport. Shakespeare is quick to point out
that its popularity is rising due to the
success of their young national team.
"Swimming is probably the most pop-
ular amateur sport, especially now" she
said. "Our national team is getting a lot
stronger and so there has been a lot more
financial support from the government,
businesses and corporations."
Shakespeare was actively involved in
publicizing her sport and used her
Olympic stardom to assume the role of
spokesperson in her local community.
"It has been good, especially after the
Olympic year. The media did a great job
of getting our names out and getting peo-
ple aware of their athletes," Shakespeare
said. "Before I moved to Toronto, I lived
in Winnipeg, and I did a lot of public
speaking and that sort of thing. So my
name got out quite a bit."
Shakespeare's efforts to connect with
aspiring swimmers is all the more impor-
tant given the fact that, outside of
Ontario, there are no high school swim-
ming programs in the rest of Canada.
It didn't take a lot of publicity to sell
swimming to Shakespeare, who start
racing at the age of 4 in Winnipeg. ShL
dabbled in a wide range of activitice.
from soccer and ballet to figure skating
and cross country running, but found
that swimming was her true love.-i
always Joved swimming the most " she
said. "Swimming would be my favorite
and the others I would do for fun."
Shakespeare's parents have provided'a
healthy support system and have not
allowed their daughter to be a casualty9
burnout.
"I think that there has been a good bal-
ance, because you need the encourage-
ment but not to the point that it is pres-
sure," Shakespeare said. "My mom is
less knowledgeable to the sport so she
was always very supportive, and my dad
pushed me to pursue the sport more. 1
never felt that I was going to be burnt
out."
While Shakespeare never wanted
divorce herself from the sport either
manently or temporarily, she has gonc
through some mental lows after big
international swim meets. After eve ry
major swim meet, Shakespeare says that
she gets really down and is depressed fi6
about two weeks. If Shakespeare had any
doubts prior to the Olympics, it was th
she could endure another bout with
depression. As it turned out, no poste
Olympic depression plagued her becaum
she was too busy moving from Winnipec
to Toronto and preparing to be a college
student.
Giving all of yourself to something
that you really love is an attribute of
many great athletes like Shakespeare,
who looks up to one of the greatest ath-
letes of all time, Michael Jordan.
"He plays hard for himself but ,he
also plays for the team," Shakespeare
said. "I would like to think that I could
play a key part on a team and have tl1
respect from your teammates that, he
has."
On the night of the closing cere-
monies of the Olympic games,
Shakespeare wasn't parading around
'he stadium with her teammates.
Instead, she was dancing on the field
while billions of people watched her.
"We just charged the field and me
and my best-friend were going craz
we had the Canadian flag, and got"
T.V.," Shakespeare said. "It was just so
much fun because we were running
around the field with all of the per=
formers and all these famous people. I
wish that night could have lasted fdr a
week because it was so fun.'
Shannon Shakespeare looks at the
pictures from the Olympic games near-
ly everyday and remembers the memo-
ries that her true love, swimming, has
given her.
She doesn't regret any of it and
wouldn't change a thing.
As mayor, Sheldon will continue to
provide a balance on council and a
force for consensus. Her moderate
points of view are needed, and she
should be re-elected.
- The Ann Arbor News
11-3-94
In 1993, the Daily supported Sheldon
as a moderate Republican who would
restore credibility to local govern-
ment. Sheldon acted on and still
emphasizes community involvement,
open and fair government and unity
with the University. For these reasons
she should continue as Mayor of Ann
Arbor.
- The Michigan Daily
11-4-94
Paid for by the Ingrid Sheldon for Mayor Committee
Doug F. Ziesemer, Treasurer, 122 S. Main, Ann Arbor 48104
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