Australia trip turns Irish's Koehler into man at work

News-Sun 1/17/04

Catholic Central swimming standout John Kevin Koehler has just come back from the land down under.

You know, “Where women glow and men plunder.”

While there, he heard the thunder — of his limitless future in the pool.

So here’s a word of advice to his opponents: “You better run, you better take cover.” Now that he has caught a realistic vision of a potential that few possess, he has become possessed. And from here on out, he will be a man at work — working even harder on his dream.

Swimming against childhood idols will do that for you. Representing your country in international competition will, too.

Yes, Koehler is dreaming big these days and his dreams are coming true. This is the effect a 10-day trip to Australia has had on the Irish’s workaholic state champion.

Koehler flew 181/2 hours there, and even longer back, to be a part of the United States Junior National Team that competed against current Australian Olympians and the most talented national teams from around the globe in a meet in Brisbane, Australia.

He even got to see a few sites and try a vegemite sandwich.

"It was disgusting,” said Koehler, always the adventurer. “I’ll never eat vegemite again. I mean, you wanted to gag."

It was no reflection on the country or the experience, however.

"I want to go back," the Irish senior said. "It was a nice payoff for all the early mornings in the pool."

Those mornings are well-chronicled: Getting up at 4:30 just to get in some pool time before school and working late into the evening after school honing his considerable distance swimming skill. Good thing, too, because he got to compete against 1500-meter world record holder Grant Hackett of Australia.

"I got to talk with him,” said a still-excited Koehler. “He was very friendly. He’s been my idol for so long. Physically, he was much bigger than me, so I got an idea of the size of some of the top swimmers.”

And what it will take to beat them. The Canadian, Chinese, Japanese and Russian national teams were there, too, swimming against a boy from little old Springfield, Ohio.

“The first day I got there, I swam the 400,” said Koehler. “They do things differently down there. You have to go to this room called the marshaling room to report before you swim. You go and literally sit in this room for a half hour and can’t warm up.

"I like to warm up and just jump in the water."

Already, Koehler had encountered a roadblock. But the problems were only about to begin.

"While in the room, the clock breaks (used for timing the races) and we can’t leave the room,” he continued. “Some people hadn’t reported to the marshaling room and they were fine, they were warming up. But I was in there for 11/2 hours.”

Yikes, mate!

“I did pretty well considering everything," he said of his 4:03.54, good enough for seventh place. "It was three seconds off my personal best time."

It was over 15 seconds off the pace of Hackett, who won the race in 3:46.79. Still, it gave JKK a dose of reality.

"The whole point of this was to go down, see what it is like to be on a national team and get to compete against top-of-the-line people,” he said. “Most of these guys are 22, 23, 24 years old. Just to experience something different, go against international competition, was so important."

That’s because he heard the thunder of his bright future, one that is now pointed towards the Olympics.

"2004 is a long shot," admitted Koehler, who nonetheless has been invited to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials starting July 1 in Long Beach, Calif. "It would be great to just go down to the trials and experience that.”

See why Indiana University-bound Koehler is such a big dreamer? Rest assured, though, he is also a realistic one.

"I know there is a lot of hard work in front of me,” he said. “But now I’m getting to the point where I really want to go. I’m going to do whatever it takes. If I fall short, it is going to hurt. But I’ll have gotten closer than most people have so it is definitely worth the work."

It is definitely going to take more work — a lot more work. Believe it or not, he has a physical handicap when he measures himself against the world’s best.

"I’m definitely smaller than most of those guys. I’m about 6-foot,” he said. “Hackett was at least a head taller than I am. But he’s the guy that everybody has to beat right now, so I’m going to have to work that much harder to catch him.

"Being a head taller is a lot,” Koehler added. “You can jump off the block better and turn out further from the wall on your turns.

"But it doesn’t deter me.”

But JKK, you are at least 30 seconds behind the best swimmers in your best event, the mile.

"As old as he (Hackett) is and as young as I am, 30 seconds really isn’t that much. It is reachable. We have guys under 15:00 (in the U.S.), but no one under 14:50. It’s a mental thing. That’s gotta be it. There is no way that they are training any harder or longer than we do. It has to come down to the mental capacity. That requires believing in yourself.”

After it making through the nightmare of his return trip home, one can’t doubt him.

"When we got down there, I was fine,” said Koehler. “My legs were a little swollen from flying, but they say that is normal because all of the blood goes to your legs. But I got jet lag when I got back. I was just tired and wanted to sleep.”

Who could blame him?

"Our plane was delayed for five hours in San Francisco (this is after 15 hours in the air from Australia). Then when I got to Philadelphia, they wouldn’t let me on the plane because they gave me the wrong ticket. Then to get home quicker, I had to fly to Chicago. But I had to run to catch the flight to Chicago then run from one end of the airport to the other to catch the plane home.

"It was good to get home, I’ll tell you that."

On a scale of 1 to 10, the trip rated a 100.

"What it really comes down to is it was definitely a reality check,” said a focused Koehler. “Basically it means I have to go into practice every day, no matter how tired I am. I have to push myself. I can’t settle for my pace; I have to go faster because there are guys who are training just as hard as you are.

"I’ll be turning up the intensity, working hard every day; and no time for breaks, no days off."

That is quite a challenge.

"I’m ready for it," said Koehler. "If I want the end result, this is what it is going to take. I’ve seen what is required, and I know that it pays off now. And if it is paying off like this right now, it definitely will be worth it in the end."

And Koehler will be able to attribute the turnaround on this cornerstone event in his life – a 10-day trip down under. Can you hear, can you hear the thunder?

"This is definitely an important time in my career,” said Koehler. “Something like this, to even be invited to it by our Olympic committee, is very important. It’s like, ‘Wow, I’m part of the future of our entire United States team. That’s what they kept telling us while we were on the trip.

“It was definitely a learning experience.”

And an eye-opening one.

Reach Kermit Rowe at