SCHOLAR ATHLETE: No Time to Change

Ben Byers ’07 loves swimming so much he probably would compete in his clothes. A four-time participant in NCAA championships and an All-American (2005), he placed second this year in 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle events at the NESCAC championship. When he is not breaking Wesleyan team records, he teaches swimming to local disadvantaged youths, or plays water polo, or studies the injury culture in youth sports for a senior essay. This double-major in economics and sociology says, “If I could pick one place to be on campus, it would be on Foss Hill in the spring with a book and a bunch of friends, just hanging out, shooting the breeze, and taking in a baseball game.”