Mirror man: twin helps Simek succeed

Coaches often tell athletes to visualize themselves succeeding in an upcoming competition to ease their nerves. With twin brother Andrew as a teammate from grade school through high school, the competition was already there for freshman swimmer Jerod Simek.

Jerod has four B cuts, is on the cusp of qualifying for nationals and said one of his ultimate goals before he graduates is to be an All-American.

When Jerod first took to the water, he had no goals in mind. He was 8 years old and joined a summer league to hang out with his friends. After that, though, his life was never the same.

It did not take long before Andrew, now a freshman at Missouri University of Science & Technology, wanted to join too. The next summer both were swimming on the same club team. For a while, the Simek brothers competed in many of the same events, but Jerod recalled how that changed on their club coach's whim.

"I don't remember when it was - I think it was maybe 12 or 13 [years old] - my coach decided, 'Oh, it'd be fun to put him in the mile,'" Jerod said. "So he put me in the mile, and I was close to a sectional cut at the time so he was like, 'Oh, I guess he's going to be a distance swimmer.'"

From that point on, Jerod stuck mostly to distance and Andrew stayed with sprints, but that did not diminish their bond. Both fed off the company and support of the other, and this was evident in workouts.

"If it's a tough set and I don't think I can do it, he's right there and he's motivating me saying, 'You can do it,'" Jerod said. "'Don't give up on the set. You've done sets harder than this.'"

That respect for each other was essential to their performance in the pool and relationship outside the pool, but the two held starkly different views on the nature of their motivation.

"Sometimes we'd end up in the same heat racing each other, but we weren't really going out there to beat each other," Andrew said. "We were just going out there to race."

For Jerod, the friendly competition has been vital to his success as a swimmer. In the 2005 Ozark Championship at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, the Simeks found themselves in a battle for the title of top overall swimmer. With the trophy on the line, Andrew had just one event left and needed to finish third or better to edge out his brother in total points. Jerod said he remembers the conflicting emotions as he watched his brother compete.

"There's that part of me that really wants him to win because I knew he had the chance to do it," Jerod said. "He was second, and I knew he could beat the kid that he was going against. But there was the other part of me that really wanted him to get fourth, so I got the trophy."

As it turned out, Andrew's goggles fogged up, he veered into the rope, and Jerod came home with the hardware.

Regardless of the results of individual races, the Simek twins remained close throughout high school, and as their high school days came to an end, everyone was interested in whether they would go to the same school, but Jerod and Andrew agree parting ways was beneficial for both of them. Andrew pursued engineering at MST and Jerod is considering physical therapy at Truman.

"We drove in the same car to practice, we had the same practice times, we always saw each other in school, so we were almost never separated," Jerod said. "I still talk to my brother and it's still a good relationship, so it's nice [going to different schools]."

Judging from Jerod's improved times, he made the right decision in coming to Truman. In the mile, he has dropped his best time by 41 seconds, from 16:40 to 15:59, and an A cut is within reach as the conference meet approaches. In practice, his intensity has drawn the attention of head coach Mark Gole.

"He gets himself to do some things that I had yet to see in practice here," Gole said. "I mean, he's gone [the] fastest 400 IMs in practice from a push that I've seen at Truman. For him to be doing that his freshman year is pretty solid."

Aside from his times, Gole said Jerod was quiet to begin the year but has "come out of his shell," and his attitude has meshed perfectly with the team's.

"When we got back here [from San Diego] for a couple weeks, he was training with a lot of people who would do similar sets in practice, and they'd be racing," Gole said. "They'd be trying to beat each other on everything. Definitely [with] how competitive he is, he pushes his teammates."

Sophomore distance swimmer Brian Tillis is one teammate who has been pushed more than any other by Jerod, and one who has pushed him in return. Last year, Tillis had nobody to compete against in practice but this season's competition between Jerod and Tillis has driven both to time improvements.

"It's affecting Tillis on a very high, positive note," Gole said. "[Jerod's] pushing Tillis to train at a much higher level than he ever has in his life."

In the meet against MST, Jerod pleaded with Gole for the chance to race against his brother, but with only a few events in which they still both compete, the grudge match could not be arranged. Andrew said he was excited about the idea too, for the fans as well as the brothers.

"It would have been cool to have everyone sitting there watching, cheering for their own Simek," Andrew said.

Despite not having his twin brother to compete against, Jerod has B cuts in the 500-, 1,000- and 1650-yard freestyles and 400-yard individual medley. If he cuts just a few seconds off any one of these times at the conference meet next week, he will be able to race in all four at nationals.

"I'd say as a freshman, he's still on the wings on [leading the team], but he definitely leads by example with what he does in the pool on a daily basis," Gole said.