Courtesy: DSPics.com

Editor's Note:
The feature story below, on men's swimming and diving co-captain Geoff Rathgeber, is part of a year-long commitment to highlight Harvard’s captains and many other intriguing student-athletes. For more question-and-answer features click here and enjoy with us the high-caliber student-athletes whom we have come to enjoy.
Men’s swimming and diving senior co-captain Geoff Rathgeber and his teammates currently sit at 9-0 in dual meets and are ranked 22nd in the nation. He has been a two-time ECAC Men’s Swimmer of the week with the most recent being Feb. 6.
There have been many great moments in the pool for Rathgeber but one meet during his freshman season stands out from all the rest.
“We had just beaten Princeton at the League Championship meet. We had gone undefeated and had achieved our goal of a perfect season. We were all celebrating in the water as our coach, Tim Murphy, ascended the 7.5 meter diving tower and did a one-and-a-half off of it while fully clothed.”
What is your concentration here at Harvard?
I am in the America field of history and literature.

How has it prepared you for life when you graduate?
I bet most people at Harvard would argue that they didn’t learn anything practical from the classes that they took here. While I can’t say I am going to use the knowledge I have gained about history and literature of America, my concentration has helped me in other ways. Because most of my classes are small, I have greatly improved my communication skills, particularly my writing. Also, the small classes have forced me to do my work—that’s helped me build close reading/analytical skills.

What can you take from athletics and apply it to the classroom and what can you take from the classroom and apply it to athletics?
Honestly, I think of swimming as a fifth class. Maybe a fifth and sixth class considering how much time I devote to it. Swimming has sharpened my organizational and time management abilities. It also has taught me that what you get out of something has direct correlation to what you put in.

Why did you choose to attend Harvard and what other schools did you consider?
For me, it came down between Harvard and Stanford. I chose Harvard because I didn’t want to be pigeonholed as an athlete. On a lot of other D-I campuses, there seems to be a divide between the student and the athlete populations, but I thought Harvard did a great job at bridging that gap. I also knew that the coaching staff here could do as good a job as any other staff in helping me achieve my goals.

You were elected as team captain for the upcoming season. What does this honor mean to you?
It was an honor to be elected as one of the two captains for the team. It means that my teammates and friends think I am doing something right in both the pool and the locker room. I am truly thankful that they have put their trust and good faith in me, and it makes me want this team to succeed on all levels this year.

As captain, what will be your most important role?
As I understand it, there are two important parts of being a captain. First, a captain should be a mediator between the coaching staff and the rest of the team. Second, he or she should be a role model who leads by example for younger members of the team.

What has been your best memory in the pool? At Harvard?
My best memory in the pool occurred this past summer at the Pan Am Games down in Brazil. After waiting four days to swim, I finally got a chance to do the 200 Individual Medley. The only problem was that it was 50 degrees, rainy and very windy outside. Despite the bad weather, I recorded my best time by a second and a half and won my heat, beating the Brazilian next to me. As I sat on the wall, I just remember seeing my name with a one next to it on the scoreboard and hearing the Brazilian fans booing me for beating their swimmer. Some people would not have liked to hear them boo—but for me, it was awesome. At Harvard, my favorite moment was when I was a freshman. We had just beaten Princeton at the League Championship meet. We had gone undefeated and had achieved our goal of a perfect season. We were all celebrating in the water as our coach, Tim Murphy, ascended the 7.5 meter diving tower and did a one-and-a-half off of it while fully clothed.

Who is the best teammate to sit with on road trips and why?
As fun as my teammates are, I’d rather have an empty seat next to me so that I can stretch out. I’m excited for this year because after three years of sharing seats, I finally get my own.

What athlete most impresses you at Harvard that is not a teammate?
The athlete who impresses me the most happens to be, in my opinion, the most underrated athlete at Harvard. Her name is Beth Kolbe. Beth doesn’t have the use of her legs, but she is one of the most talented and dedicated swimmers I have ever seen. She is an American record holder for multiple events, and she deserves all the credit in the world for her achievements.

When not at practice how do you like to spend your free time?
Depending on how tired I am from morning practices, I’ll either go out for some fun in Harvard Square or watch some online television in bed.

What is one sport that you do not have a background in that you would love to try at Harvard?
I would love to try hockey. I’m not sure I would be good at it, but it’d be fun get out on the ice.

If you could work out with one professional athlete, from any sport, for a day, who would it be and why?
I’d like to spend a day with Tiger Woods. Personally I am not a golfer, and I don’t even consider myself a fan of golf, but Tiger really impresses me. I’d be interested to learn how he deals with the fame and pressure of being one of the most recognizable faces in sports today. Also, I hear his workout routine is pretty intense, so that’d be fun to try as well.

What is the best way to spend $10 on food in Harvard Square?
A quesadilla from Felipe’s, french fries from Charlie’s and a frappe from Bartley’s.

What movie can be found in your DVD player at the moment?
The Office—Season 3.

Last album you bought?
Does anyone buy albums anymore? It would probably be Sounds Like This by Eric Hutchinson.

What game show would you like to be featured on?
Don’t Forget the Lyrics.

What reality TV show would you like to be on?
Survivor—the reward challenges always come down to swimming abilities.

What is the best spot on campus? In Boston?
People on the river give it a bad name, but the Quad is the best place in my book. It is removed from the craziness of Harvard Square and the most “college” place Harvard has to offer on the weekends.

In Boston, I’m all for the North End. I lived there during the summer between my sophomore and junior year. It’s got some of the best food in the world, and everything is within walking distance.

If you had a free ticket to any sporting event in the world what would it be?
I’d love an all-access pass to next summer’s Olympics in Beijing.

What do you think happened at the end of The Sopranos?
They definitely got whacked.

Favorite professional sports teams?
I’m a Patriot’s fan, but I miss the glory days of the Hartford Whalers.

If you could have lunch with any three people in history who would they be and why?
Adam Smith: I’d pick his brain about capitalist theory, so I could impress people in my job interviews that I am going through right now. Leonardo DaVinci: I could ask him if all that stuff Dan Brown wrote about him was true. Walt Disney: A major part of my thesis focuses on his crucial business decisions during the 1950s.