(illustration) Anna Nelson

At the WIAC Championships, which begin today at UW-Whitewater, the men’s swimming and diving team will be expecting big things from its oddball superstar, senior Matt Oglesby.

Oglesby, 21, has dominated virtually every event he’s tried since he became a Blugold in the fall of 1998. He has the school record in the 100-yard butterfly (49.88 seconds), 100 backstroke (50.94) and 200 fly (1:52.93). Last season he broke the WIAC record in the 100 fly (50.11), then took third at the NCAA Div. III National Meet in the same event.

With all he’s accomplished, Oglesby could do absolutely nothing for the rest of the season and still end his career with an almost-legendary status.

But the 6-foot sprinter has no trouble pushing himself to achieve more.

“You can always go faster,” Oglesby said. “It’s not like taking a test where you can get 100 percent and that’s the best you can do,” he said. “There’s no way you can finish with the clock reading 0.00.”

The Lake Geneva native has a personality that’s just as entertaining as watching him compete.

Oglesby is a fierce competitor in the water but out of the pool he constantly jokes with teammates, throwing around signature phrases like “off the hook.”

Coach Rob Welcher describes him as wild and out of control.

“I’m pretty easygoing and I like to have fun,” Oglesby said.

Oglesby’s desire for a laid-back lifestyle helps explain why he passed up scholarship offers from the University of Minnesota to attend UW-Eau Claire.

“Of course, with D-I swimming, that’s where it’s at,” Oglesby said. “But it’s a job to go there. You swim four hours and lift for an hour a day,” he said. “You go to class, go to practice, go back to class. That’s all it is. I didn’t want that.”

Oglesby also came to Eau Claire because his brother Mark, who is two years older, was swimming on the team.

The brothers spent their lives swimming together and were both standouts at Big Foot Union High School. He felt weird after Mark left for Eau Claire and the two couldn’t compete with each other, Oglesby said.

“It was really strange not swimming with him,” Oglesby said. “It was a big shock to my system.”

When Oglesby followed Mark’s path to Eau Claire, the two were happy to resume a friendly rivalry that’s existed ever since their childhood.

“There was always that push when we were younger to see who’d go faster in the 50 free or 100 fly,” Oglesby said. “For a while, when we swam the 50 free we were back and forth. One meet he had the fastest time, next meet I had the fastest time.”

Mark said the two did an excellent job of motivating each other.

“We were always competitive in practice,” Mark said. “He pushed me with some stuff, and I pushed him with some stuff.”

Although Matt now has bragging rights over his older brother in most events, Mark’s school record in the 200 freestyle still stands.

The brothers had similar practice habits when they swam together, but their personalities differ slightly. Mark said he is crazier than Matt.

“I like to party more than he does,” Mark said. “He spends a lot more (time) hanging out with his friends and studying.”

Oglesby, a biology major and math minor, is looking to graduate in the spring of 2003. After that he said he would like to get a job related to biotechnology, preferably somewhere in the Rocky Mountains region.

Living in a state such as Colorado or Utah would give Oglesby an opportunity to pursue two of his other sporting passions – downhill skiing and mountain biking.

If he doesn’t head for the Rockies, Oglesby said he’d like to live somewhere near an ocean where he could practice another interesting hobby of his – salt-water fly fishing.

Oglesby said he started fly fishing in the Atlantic as a youngster during regular vacations with his family to the Florida Keys.

Aside from sports, some of Oglesby’s favorite activities are listening to hip-hop, reading Ernest Hemingway novels and playing video games. (He described Play Station’s “Grand Theft Auto” as “way off the hook.”)

Like most die-hard athletes, Oglesby says he’ll never be able to completely leave athletics behind.

He plans to relax during his fifth year of school, then possibly train for triathlons and join a master swimming league.

“I’ll try and stay in shape somehow, and not get fat and old,” Oglesby said.

For now, Oglesby is focused on leading the Blugolds to a top-three finish at conference and capping off an illustrious career with an individual title in the 100 fly at nationals.

Those are some serious goals for a pretty funny guy.