Here’s something you might not have known about Ryan Held, but perhaps isn’t surprising.
The Springfield resident and Olympic Gold Medal winner has one final day of rest Monday before heading back to North Carolina State to continue to college. Yes, Olympians still have their studies.
But what is Held studying in college? Surprise! It kind of has to do with the water.
“I’m majoring in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology,” says Held. “So, more outdoorsy, working with the environment.”
What kind of advice does Held – give?
At least to students at his alma mater — Sacred Heart Griffin — Friday, Held says he told them anyone can try to be an Olympian, but results may vary.
“There’s really no secret ingredient,” says Held. “I walked the same hallways, [used] all the same facilities as all those other athletes at SHG. But, just, hard work, dedication, having a great mental attitude, is really kind of what makes the difference.”
Teammates and even Held’s swimming coach at SHG say that’s Ryan to a tee. Held ended up getting not one but two days named after him – one by Governor Bruce Rauner this past Friday, and one from Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder a day later.
Held says the hardest part of the Olympic experience wasn’t swimming, or all the down time for the remainder of two and a half weeks in Rio, but it was standing at the podium watching the American flag be raised at the medal ceremony.
By the way, Held says the U.S. Swim Team is prohibiting from him talking about the legal troubles fellow swimmer Ryan Lochte got into while in Rio.
Meantime, The Rio Olympics wasn’t the first time Springfield had a Gold Medal winner.
NBA star Andre Igoudala won a gold medal with USA Basketball before Ryan Held came along, and there could be as many as a half-dozen from Springfield winning gold before him.
While it’s rare, at least compared to when Igoudala won his gold back in 2012, Sacred Heart Griffin swimming coach “Doc” Stegeman says Held winning gold was, to him, unique.
“Ryan is really the pure amateur, while Igoudala — when he went — he was the pro,” says Stegeman. “It’s a different level of expectation. It’s a different level of career path. Ryan’s career path is more similar to the everyman story. I think it resonates with everyman moreso.”
Stegeman says it might be easy for him to call it a career after coaching a Gold Medal winner, but he says he has no plans of stopping now.