Moments after his hand touched the wall, Carter Griffin leaned across the lane line and celebrated with teammate Sean Lehane. The Americans had just finished first and second in the 200-meter backstroke at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. Still gasping for breath, both swimmers were all smiles.
Lehane finished with the gold medal and Griffin, a junior at Missouri, was less than a second behind him to grab the silver.
“My goal was to stay pretty smooth on the first 50 (meters) and not use up too much energy,” Griffin said. “I did that pretty well. And then I wanted to build through the next 100 (meters) and have a really good last 50 (meters). And that’s pretty much what I did.”
By executing this race strategy, Griffin was able to pass multiple swimmers toward the end of the race. In the last 100 meters, he moved from fourth place to second.
“I knew that I could hold my speed pretty well,” he said. “So a lot of those guys make more speed than I do, but I can keep my stroke together and maintain that kind of speed. So I just consciously decided to stay behind them for a while and then really come home on the last 50.”
Last August, Griffin earned a spot on Team USA for the Pan American Games with a sixth place finish at the Phillips 66 National Championships Swim Meet. At that meet, he raced against Olympic gold medalists Ryan Lochte and Tyler Clary.
Griffin’s coach at Missouri, Greg Rhodenbaugh, was also selected to be a coach for Team USA.
“The Pan American Games is the most like the Olympic Games where everybody stays in the Athlete’s Village … All the coaches and all the athletes are all kind of sequestered together in that village,” Rhodenbaugh said.
The close proximity of all the athletes allowed for interaction between different countries. Rhodenbaugh noted that when a medalist walked into the dining tent, all of the athletes would cheer.
At the meet, Griffin had the chance to swim on a team with Olympic medalists Cullen Jones and Nick Thoman. While competing in Toronto, Griffin also felt a strong sense of nationalism.
“A huge part of it was just being on Team USA at an awesome big, international competition where it’s not just swimmers, it’s people from all different sports … it was a huge presence,” he said. “As you walked around the village wearing Team USA stuff, people noticed you and we had a presence there that a lot of other countries … wish that they had.”
Earning the silver medal was a special experience for Griffin.
“I had always dreamed of representing Team USA and getting a medal and standing up there and hearing my national anthem, but it was the kind of dream that I never really allowed myself to expect to happen,” he said. “And then I got there and swam a good race and it happened.”
Missouri was well-represented at the meet. Aside from Griffin and Rhodenbaugh, sophomore Jordy Groters represented Aruba and graduate Dominique Bouchard represented Canada. Groters made it into the B finals in three different events: the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke and the 100-meter freestyle.
Bouchard had a strong meet for Canada. She earned an individual silver medal in the 200-meter backstroke. She also swam on Canada’s 400-meter medley relay, earning a silver, and 400-meter freestyle relay, earning a gold.
Rhodenbaugh said that his swimmers should be able to build off of their experiences at the Pan American Games when they come back to Missouri.
“Any time you gain more experience, you’re a better swimmer, so it’ll be fun to watch them come back at the end of the summer here,” he said. “It kind of gives you a glimpse of where you might be able to go, and so I would assume that they’re just going to come back hungry to get there.”