Kejzar swims to Player’s Club fame

Must be pretty tough getting up in time for a 10 a.m. class every Monday and Wednesday morning. Especially if the class is chemistry or algebra and everything the teachers say sounds foreign to you.

Now imagine being from Slovenia, part of the former Soviet Union, and moving to the United States. Your day starts at 6 a.m. with swim practice, then you’re off to class.

Everything the teachers say and do is in another language. Your English is rough, and socially it is tough to fit in. You come into contact with people every day who have no idea what your life has been like.

For Alenka Kejzar, sophomore swimmer, there is no imagining it because that’s just life. Kejzar adjusted to her new surroundings by blowing the competition out of the water.

In her first year at SMU, Kejzar shot through the water like a bullet from the barrel of a gun. She posted All-American times in two events in the 2001 NCAA Championships. Kejzar was fifth in the 200-meter backstroke and No. 10 in the 200-meter individual medley.

Sophomore teammate Katie Merriam said Kejzar is a player the team always counts on.

“She pushes the team forward, all of us count on her to come through,” Merriam said.

For Kejzar, pressure is something she has handled well since she first started swimming.

In 1996, she swam the 200-meter individual medley for her homeland, and again she challenged the world in 2000 in Atlanta.

With a resume like that, when Kejzar enters the pool, the water asks for her autograph.

In case representing an entire country wasn’t stressful enough, Kejzar became an important part of the SMU women’s team’s success in 2002.

“Her versatility is great: She can cover a numerous amount of events and swims all of them well,” sophomore teammate Dallas Marshall said.

The numbers from the “01-“02 season don’t lie. On Nov. 30, 2001 Kejzar posted a time of 00:54.89 in the 100 back as part of a 400-medley relay at the U.S. Open. She also recorded a time of 2:13.50 in the 200 breaststroke at the Open. From the start of the season Kejzar proved she could swim with the best. If Kejzar signed a record deal for swimming she would be going triple platinum.

At the WAC Championships in February, Kejzar swam the nation’s fastest time in the 400 IM with a time of 4:07.30. At the 2002 NCAA Championships in March, Kejzar took no prisoners. A second-place finish in the 200-meter backstroke and a third place finish in the 200 IM helped the Mustangs to a ninth place finish in the nation.

“When she came here, she didn’t know much English. She has really adjusted well not only in swimming but also in school,” Marshall said.

After two seasons at SMU, Kejzar has let her swimming do all of the talking. International experience and a great work ethic make Kejzar a swimmer to watch in the future.

So next time you are walking over to the outdoor pool with your bright orange floatation devices on your arms and your huge beach towel in hand, remember the effort that is put into the pool while you are still sleeping.

Many Olympic athletes walk this campus undetected, and Alenka Kejzar is one Mustang you should know.