BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It’s 7:30 a.m. on a cloudless August day in the heartland, the sun just cresting the limestone hills that surround Indiana University. School is not in session, and the campus is still. As classic rock quietly plays on the loudspeakers at the IU outdoor pool, two members of the U.S. national swim team barely disturb the 10-lane, 50-meter expanse of water.
As his swimmers softly splash through the early stages of their workout, Hoosiers coach Ray Looze holds two pieces of paper. The one in his right hand is an 8-by-11 printout of the 5,000-meter practice plan for freestyler and Olympic silver medalist Anna Peplowski. The paper in his left hand, the size of a Post-it note, is the practice plan for the most interesting man in swimming, Van Mathias. Total distance of that one: 1,400 meters, a spa treatment of a workout.
