Senior swimming and diving co-captain Sam Wollner and his teammates have gotten off to a 3-0 start in dual meets this season including a fourth place finish at the Georgia Invitational. It was there he finished fourth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:24.49, which earned him a “B” standard.

Wollner recognizes the talent that the Crimson has and understands that as captain, it is his job to try and get the most out of it.

“We have an unusually talented, young group that has a great chance to win conference this year and send some guys to the NCAA championship. I also feel a responsibility toward the younger guys on the team to encourage them to pursue all the opportunities that Harvard offers across the river in Cambridge.”


What is your concentration here at Harvard?
Biological Anthropology.

How has it prepared you for life when you graduate?
Bio Anthro has been amazing. It has helped me put biology and medicine in perspective for me from a human standpoint. I spent most of high school learning about the sciences from a lab bench, but I have come to appreciate the field for its human and cultural elements. I now have a much more enlightened and respectful view of biology and medicine. I know this will be priceless as I pursue a career in medicine or related to medicine.

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?
My favorite classes at Harvard have been smaller seminar classes that allow students to have open discussions. My experiences in athletics and competition have helped me because I don’t have any “performance anxiety” when it comes to speaking or presenting results to an audience. The seminars also require an ability to work well in teams, whether it is facilitating the flow of a discussion or working with classmates on a research project. The classroom has developed my analytical abilities. As a captain, you need to be able to step back and survey the situation, and understand how you can make things better for yourself, your teammates, and your coach.

Why did you choose to attend Harvard and what other schools did you consider?
I thought I would bring some Yankee pride to Red Sox nation as a die-hard New Yorker and fan. In all honesty, all the schools I was looking at during the college process offered great educations, but the Harvard swim team stood out as the best fit for me as a student-athlete. Harvard swimming also has a tradition of outstanding distance freestyle swimmers, so that was definitely a legacy I wanted to be a part of.

What has been the best course you have taken while at Harvard?
I took a junior tutorial class with a professor in the Bio Anthro department last semester. It was just me and the professor, one-on-one for two hours every week. It was a unique opportunity to toss ideas around for a couple hours with an expert in the field.

You were elected as team captain for the upcoming season. What does this honor mean to you?
It is privilege. The respect and friendship of my teammates is invaluable to me. They are my family away from home and I treat them as such. It is tremendously gratifying to be acknowledged for my passion and commitment to Harvard men’s swimming and diving by being elected captain. It’s also a privilege to be co-captain alongside one of my best friends in college, Geoff Rathgeber.

As captain, what will be your most important role?
My most important role will be to set the standard for work ethic and respectful competition on the team. We have an unusually talented, young group that has a great chance to win conference this year and send some guys to the NCAA championship. Fortunately the role of guiding the team to a championship is a responsibility I share with my outstanding senior classmates on the team. I also feel a responsibility toward the younger guys on the team to encourage them to pursue all the opportunities that Harvard offers across the river in Cambridge.

When not at practice how do you like to spend your free time?
These days it is looking for a job and figuring out the start to a career path. I always try to make it down to the athletic complex for at least one game each Saturday though.

What is one sport that you have no real background in that you would like to try at Harvard?
My cousins were captains of the hockey team at Boston College, so I grew up watching them do great things on the ice. I also love watching the Harvard hockey teams, so I would definitely be up for quality time over at the Bright Hockey Center.

What is the best way to spend $10 on food in Harvard Square?
A grande chicken burrito at Felipe’s followed up by some Lizzie’s ice cream.

What movie can be found in your DVD player at the moment?
Braveheart.

Do you have any superstitions or routines you go through before each meet?
I always count on my mom to find a lucky penny for me sometime before the start of a big meet. I usually get a text message before the meet saying we’re good to go. I try not to buy into superstition, but I know my mom’s got my back if it does count.

What game show would you like to be featured on?
The Price Is Right. I always wanted to get on when Bob Barker was still the host.

What reality TV show would you like to be on?
To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of reality TV. I just dressed up as Flavor Flav for Halloween though. I think he’s hilarious (and Public Enemy is legendary), so being on set for his “Flavor of Love” show would be pretty cool.

If someone made a movie of your life, who would play your character?
I think Matt Damon would be an excellent pick, maybe Tom Cruise before he lost his mind on Oprah.

What is the best spot on campus? In Boston?
The stands at Blodgett, I hear they really take care of their fans there. In Boston it's Newbury Street, towards the Hynes Convention Center T stop (away from the over-priced designer clothes store closer to Boston Public garden): great people, great restaurants and great shops. Any further West, however, and you’re too close to Fenway; you have to stay away from that place.

What would you do with $1 million and you can’t invest it?
I would travel. I’d love to spend some time in Africa and South East Asia without any business commitments, just cultural immersion.

If you had a free ticket to any sporting event in the world what would it be?
An all-access pass to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

If you had to do karaoke what song would you pick?
Travis Tritt-It’s a Great Day to Be Alive

Which teammate would be the best karaoke singer?
That is easy. My teammate, and co-captain, Geoff is a regular at Uno’s karaoke night.

What do you think happened at the end of The Sopranos?
I was a big fan in high school, but I haven’t had the time to keep up in college. I’d like to think Tony heads out of town to Sicily and just relaxes on the beach for the rest of his life...those panic attacks were vicious.

Favorite professional sports teams?
The Yankees.

If you could have lunch with any three people from history who would they be?
Martin Luther King, Jr., Jack Kerouac and Louis Pasteur.