Former UB Swimmer to Compete at World Championships
12/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
It was early October and former UB standout swimmer Eric Culver paced around his kitchen, anxiously awaiting a phone call he thought would never come. Finally, the phone rang and on the other end was Ramon Cacho, the head coach of the Puerto Rican National Swimming Team, asking Eric to be a member of the Puerto Rican National Team and compete at the Short Course World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
The Short Course World Championships is one of the sport's elite competitions. Over 900 of the world's best swimmers, including well-known Olympians such as Ryan Lochte, will compete in the five-day event.
Culver capped his standout career at UB in 2014 and is the school-record holder in the 200 butterfly. That event is one of four the New Paltz, NY native will compete in when the championships start on December 3. He will also compete in the 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle and mile freestyle.
While Culver doesn't sound like a Hispanic name, the former UB great can swim on the Puerto Rican National Team because his mother, Annette, is a native of the commonwealth.
Getting the call was a dream Culver had for a long time. He went to Puerto Rico and trained with the team back in 2010 even before enrolling at UB. Following his career at UB, he was contacted by the Puerto Rican coaching staff and was invited to compete at the Mayaguez International Invite. It was Culver's first taste of swimming in an international meet. The meet included teams from Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean nations.
After a solid showing in Mayaguez, Culver's next goal was to compete at the Central American and Caribbean Games. He trained at UB and, in June, he competed at the Santa Clara Grand Prix Invite in hopes of earning the qualifying times and gaining a spot on the team.
After competing in Santa Cruz in hopes of making the team, Culver didn't hear anything for three months. Figuring he didn't make it, he moved on with his life, accepting a job to coach two swim teams and starting graduate school. However, a phone call finally did come in October. However, it was for a meet Culver wasn't expecting – the Short Course World Championships.
"I'm one of the most confident and positive people," Culver said. "I had lost hope after Santa Clara and I didn't get a phone call or email back from Puerto Rico. I thought maybe it was just time for me to be done. It's weird how things work out."
Culver was given two days to make a decision. After talking it over with his family, he decided to accept the spot on the team.
"That was a really memorable moment for me at that time," Culver said.
The Short Course World Championships is not Culver's highest goal.
"I think I'm going to keep swimming after Worlds," Culver said. "I want to try to make the Pan Am Games in Toronto and also try to make an Olympic times standard. It's a hard goal, but I know I can do it.
"When I was younger, I didn't think this kind of thing was even possible. I didn't think I'd be taking it this far in swimming."
Now he hopes after a strong swim at Worlds, the phone will ring again.
Culver will first compete in the 200 freestyle on December 3. He will compete in the 400 freestyle on December 5. On December 7, he will compete in the 200 butterfly and the mile freestyle. Click here for more information.
