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SPORTS
THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
12/01–12/02/12
“A
ll I’m thinking about, while doing laps, is, ‘End result, end result.’ When I think that, I swim harder.” — Peter Grumhaus
Lake Forest High School’s Peter Grumhaus will swim in the Big Ten next year.
FULL SPEED AHEAD Iowa-bound Grumhaus is driven to succeed
■ by
bill mclean
The 200-yard freestyle is a terribly unforgiving swimming race. It’s a middle-distance event for some, but the elite racers consider it an eight-lap sprint. “It takes a lot out of you,” Lake Forest High School senior Peter Grumhaus said. It takes guts, speed and endurance to stare the 200 free down. Grumhaus is looking at the race again this winter. And not blinking. “I’m driven,” said the 6-foot-2, 160-pounder, eighth in the event (1:41.8) at last year’s state meet. “This sport drives me. I know what I need to do (in training sessions) to get to where I want to be. “All I’m thinking about, while doing laps, is, ‘End result, end result.’ When I think that, I swim harder.” What he thought about when he was a beginner in the sport, back in the second grade: the water temperature. “It was too cold,” he recalled. Grumhaus hung up his suit. It stayed dry for a while.
Before returning to the sport, he played baseball and broke his left elbow in a bike accident. His favorite things to shatter these days are his personal records in events. Look for his 200 free time to dip in the high 1:30s and his 500 free time to sink to the 4:20s (Grumhaus clocked a seventh-place 4:31.9 at state as a junior). “The hardest trainer on our team, without a doubt,” LF senior sprinter Colin Rowe said. “Every single practice he makes an impact, and the rest of the team notices that.” Grumhaus, a Lake Bluff resident, joined CATS Aquatic, a Libertyville/Vernon Hillsbased swim club, after his sophomore season and started training under the guidance of former Unified Team Olympic swimmer Vlad Pyshnenko, among other coaches. One of his CATS teammates since then has been Mundelein senior and Stanford-bound Connor Black, who set a junior national record in the 100-meter butterfly (52.16) and combined with Grumhaus, Chad Church and Alex Snarski to place third in the 400 medley relay at junior nationals last summer. “Peter’s work ethic … That’s the No. 1
thing about him in swimming,” Black said. “He’s always ahead of everybody else in the tough sets we do in practice.” What separates Grumhaus from most other racers in the 200 free is his back-half effort. It’s iron-man strong. When others are beginning to feel drained after 100 yards, Grumhaus is still feeling fairly fresh. “He can hold (a very good pace) in the 200 free,” said Pyshnenko. “He needs to work a little bit on his first half. But I’m not at all worried about his back half, because his endurance is something he’ll never lose.” Lake Forest High School coach and Cindy Dell wore a black-and-gold University of Iowa T-shirt at a recent boys swimming coach. She graduated from the school, and her Hawkeyes were going to face Nebraska’s Cornhuskers in a football game later in the day. Grumhaus must have smiled when he saw the shirt. He is, after all, pumped to swim for the Hawkeyes for four years. “When he told me he had committed to Iowa, I cried,” Dell said. “I was so happy for him. Peter has found himself in this sport, and he has matured into an amazing young
photography by j.geil man and athlete. “His goals in swimming,” she added, “are lofty and reasonable and wonderful.” His mom, Diane, has been there for practically every one of her son’s competitive laps. The exact number? Somewhere between way too many and too many to count. “My mom,” Peter said, “has been my inspiration through the years. She’s been so encouraging, supportive and loving.” Folks on pool decks are also pulling for Diane’s water boy. Rowe, for one. “Peter is talented, with great technique in the water,” said Rowe, who, like Grumhaus, helped LF capture two sectional titles in the last three years. “But he’s also a regular guy, not a braggadocio. He’s fun in the locker room, fun in the hallways at school.” Notable: Lake Forest opens its season Saturday at 10 a.m. against visiting Fremd. … A program-best 83 boys came out for swimming and diving at LFHS this winter, Dell noted. … Grumhaus touched ninth at state in the 500 free as a sophomore. … Former LF standout swimmers Mitch Stoehr (Stanford), Rachel Stoehr (Arkansas) and Bryan Bunning (University of Chicago) crashed the tail end of a Scouts practice the day after Thanksgiving. ■