On Nov. 8, 2017, St. Ed’s senior Coleman Kramer made it official when he signed a letter of intent to enroll at the University of South Carolina. The commitment was a natural springboard for one of the best swimmers in St. Ed’s history, and it meant that he would take his obvious passion for that sport to a Division 1 college program.
Now you might think that Kramer would, at least for the time being, ease off the rigorous training regimen that got him to this point. But you would be completely wrong. There will be few if any casual afternoons lounging by the pool.
Under the guidance of St. Ed’s Aquatics Director Stephen Fenning, Kramer is in the pool six days a week. His specialties in college will be the 200 and 500 freestyle. There are morning and afternoon sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The day isn’t necessarily over when he dries off after two hours of laps in the pool after school. An hour of weight training may follow if Fenning doesn’t have him shaving or tapering in preparation for an upcoming meet.
“I have a big meet this month called the NCSA (National Club Swimming Association age group championships) in Orlando,” Kramer explained. “What I do over the summer depends on how I do at that meet. I do well there the U.S. Open would be next. That would occur over the summer and it would be huge. But if I don’t do well I will be going to Anaheim, California. for the Junior Nationals.”
Other meets and plenty of pool exercise will be sprinkled in until it is time for the transition to college. The game plan is a little unsettled at the moment, but the goals academically and athletically remain firm.
“I’m not quite sure when I will be leaving for college just yet,” Kramer told us. “I may want to go up there early, train with the team over the summer, and take a course to get some credits early on. Or I may want to stay here for my last summer and spend some time with my friends. I will probably just stay here, but you never know.
“I’m excited to finally move on to something bigger, live on my own, and learn how to deal with real life. It will be a change of scenery and completely different environment. I’ve been at St. Edward’s since pre-K and South Carolina has 30,000 students or something crazy like that. It’s going to take some getting used to, but I’m looking forward to the change.
“I will be majoring in marketing because business is a go-to when you really don’t have a clear idea. My original thought was writing, but I think marketing would be good because I would be able to add a creative spin to advertising products or whatever I need to. So marketing and advertising is what I am thinking about when I get to college.”
Kramer has already mastered the proper time management techniques with the dawn-to-dusk days at St. Ed’s. That will come in handy when he arrives in Columbia, South Carolina.
“What motivates me to do that much training is getting better. Every day is tough, but you’ve just got to keep pushing yourself. That is what got me to where I am right now.
“Making the NCAAs and the Olympic trials after that would be nice. The dream would be the Olympics, but there are so many good swimmers that I will just have to see where I am later on for that. No doubt that’s what I’m working toward.
“I just plan on being the best swimmer I can be by the time I leave college. Then I will see where I am after I graduate. You never know.”
