By Scott Fowler
Charlotte native Ricky Berens gives the Texas hook 'em horns salute after receiving his third-place medal for the men's 100-meter freestyle Sunday at the Charlotte UltraSwim.
Ricky Berens, the 2008 Olympian who grew up in Charlotte, doesn't get home much.
He swims now for the University of Texas, where he just finished his junior year of college with a three-hour finance exam Friday night.
On Saturday morning, Berens hopped a flight to Charlotte. On Sunday, he finally got a piece of the best Charlotte UltraSwim ever, finishing third in the blazing 100-meter freestyle final that capped the meet.
Berens beat everybody in the field except France's Fred Bousquet (who won) and his 2008 Olympic teammate Michael Phelps. That's pretty darn good for a 21-year-old kid from South Mecklenburg High, and Berens was smiling afterward.
“To be finishing third against them was great,” he said.
The race was more evidence of Berens' potential. He is considered one of the best hopes for the future of American swimming and has a chance to qualify for multiple events at the London Olympics in 2012.
A shorter-term goal this summer: Make the U.S. team that will go to the 2009 world championships in Rome in more than one event.
Berens swam only one event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but he made the most of it. He won a gold medal and helped set a world record in the 4-by-200 freestyle relay. He rode into his junior season in college on a natural high from his time in China.
And then the real world intruded.
“I was kind of disappointed in the way all that went,” Berens said of his collegiate season. “I think I kind of went into the season, coming off the Olympics going, ‘Oh, this is going to be a breeze.' So it was a reality check.”
Berens' standards are very high, for his junior season wouldn't have been a disappointment for most swimmers. He finished third in the nation in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200 freestyle. The Texas men's team couldn't quite catch Auburn for the national championship.
Berens now believes the long stretch from the Olympics through the collegiate season took something out of him. He will begin his senior season at Texas in the fall.
“We've got to get a national championship there before I'm done,” he said.
For this trip home, Berens is combining business with pleasure. He attended his first NASCAR race Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, the all-star event, and was awed.
“It was incredible,” he said. “Sitting there up close you have such a different perception. You don't think they're going so fast on TV until you see that in person.”
Berens didn't get home from that race (won by Tony Stewart) until about 1 a.m. Sunday, but it didn't affect him for his own race Sunday morning. He won his 100-meter heat in a sizzling time of 49.50, nearly setting a personal best while beating Bousquet. Phelps won his heat in exactly the same time.
Then came the final.
Bousquet and Phelps improved their times from the morning. Berens did not, and that was ultimately the difference.
As far as swimming stardom, Berens is still not there yet. But he's on the cusp.
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