Here, there and Down Under

John Wolpers III hated swimming a few months ago. But now that he's going overseas to compete, it's gravy.

The 17-year-old Gators swimmer said he fell into a bad slump in the winter after losing desire for the water.

"I'm doing pretty good now," he said, "but for a while I hated swimming and waking up in the morning."

Now that he's back on track, John and his 13-year-old sister, Annie, will be headed to New Zealand and Australia next week for a two-week People to People Sports Ambassador Program. The program is designed to give athletes of various sports the opportunity to travel and compete while meeting people from other countries and exploring the land.

After swimming in the Junior Olympics last year, the siblings were invited to apply for the trip. The selection process included applications and interviews.

"We don't really know what to expect at all," John said. "I have no idea how many people from our country are going to be there or how many people from other countries are going to be there. We're just going without really knowing anything about it."

The athletes will depart Wednesday for New Zealand, where they will do plenty of sight-seeing and train in the pool a few days. On July 21, the athletes will relocate to Sydney, Australia, home of the 2000 Summer Olympics. They will spend more time training in the water and even tackle a service project. A two-day international swimming competition will conclude the trip.

"It's a lot of different things, not just swimming; the athletic thing was kind of just the ticket to go," said John, who thinks a break from Gators practices will help him out in the meet. "The rest will help, and I hope to drop some time in my events."

The Wolperses may be able to apply some of the training to competition later this summer. Shortly after the trip, they will travel to Carbondale, Ill., for the Division I swimming championship and then to Des Moines, Iowa, for the annual Junior Olympics, set for Aug. 2 to Aug. 8.

"I'm nervous about the jet lag," John said of returning home to two more meets. "Whenever I get back I'll lose hours, and I'll be tired. I hope to ignore that and just see how well I can do."

Annie, who has been swimming with the Gators for four years, didn't seem too worried about her swimming agenda in the next month. She just wants to go to Australia.

"I'm looking forward to both swimming and just visiting Australia," she said. "It is kind of scary, though, because I won't know anybody.

"I'm just really excited," she added. "I never thought I'd be able to do this until senior trip."

Mark Unterreiner is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian, and his column appears every Thursday. To report someone worthy of being in the Spotlight, contact him at 335-6611 (ext. 174) or sports@semissourian.com.