Swimmer proving to be late bloomer
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
At the age of 22, when most competitive swimmers have retired to less demanding exercise regimens, Ben Komer of Kaimuki is just beginning to take the sport seriously.
Komer family photo
It's not too late, says one of his coaches, former national team member John Flanagan. "The sky's the limit for this guy.
Punahou alum Ben Komer excelled in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle at Pomona-Pitzer College.
"There is no one like him," Flanagan continues. "Most swimmers of his age have 15 years experience under their belts. He started working with us (John and his brother Kevin) two years ago."
Komer graduated in May from Pitzer College in southern California, where coaches selected him as the Most Valuable Male Athlete for 2001-02.
He set school records in the 50-yard freestyle (20.77 seconds) and 100 freestyle (46.16) and anchored the school-record 200 freestyle relay team. He finished fifth in the NCAA Division III championships in the 50.
"He hasn't put in a full year of training yet," John Flanagan says. "He has the talent, strength and power. I know he will get a lot faster."
Although his mother, Lori, has operated Leahi Swim School for 28 years and Komer has taught swimming there since he was 14, his only racing experience prior to college was two weeks on a club team in the seventh grade.
"I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment," says Ben. "I'd rather be in the ocean, paddling, surfing and SCUBA diving."
At Punahou School, Komer tried water polo in the seventh and eighth grades, but at 5-5 and 125 pounds, decided he was too small. So he paddled on outrigger canoe teams for Punahou and Outrigger Canoe Club. "I spent my time on the Ala Wai with my 10 best friends," he says.
When he went to Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., following his graduation from high school in 1998, Komer soon missed the water. "Claremont is an hour from any decent surfing beach. I was drying out a little," he says.
Still reluctant, he took his mother's advice and turned out for the Pomona-Pitzer swimming team. "I showed up wearing a pair of surf shorts and no goggles," he recalls.
After the first week of practice, coach Gary Troyer gave him a Speedo racing suit and goggles. Later, Troyer told him, "You don't know how fast you can swim. You can beat everybody in this league."
Komer credits Troyer with motivating him. "He lit that fire underneath me," Komer says. "He made it fun and worthwhile to practice. I don't think I would have done that at a Division I school."
Troyer, in turn, says Komer is "among the top three in Pomona's Pantheon of Aquatic Heroes," in the 32 years he has coached there.
He was a three-time Southern California conference champion in the 50 and 100 freestyle, qualified for the NCAA Division III championships three times and was a two-time All-American.
"Ben also provided tremendous leadership (captain in 2001, '02), inspiration and focus for our team," Troyer says.
With Komer's breathtaking, come-from-behind anchor leg in the championship meet-ending relay fresh in their minds, conference coaches in February chose him SCIAC Swimmer of the Year for the second time in three years.
"It was a real surprise to come out of nowhere and do so well," Komer says.
Last month, Komer competed in USA Swimming's Northwest Sectional Championships for the first time and qualified for the U.S. Open (one level below the national championships) in the 50 freestyle.
Now he practices with the Flanagans and Kamehameha Swim Club nine times a week, and logs 8,000 yards per day. "I want to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Trials," he said.
"He definitely has a shot," Flanagan says.
LAST LAP: Ben Komer, the former ninth-grade pipsqueak, now has ideal swimmer's dimensions of 6-feet-2 and 190 pounds. ...Komer says that in major races, "everybody is in the same physical shape. The person with a mental edge wins." ... He learned the Pomona-Pitzer track team was looking for a javelin thrower this year. "It looks real primal," Komer says, "back to the days of hunting for food with a stick." He tried it and qualified for the conference finals with a throw of 162-feet-plus. . . . Whether he reaches the Olympic Trials, swimming is in Komer's future. "I'm planning to take over the swim school for my mom, and run it for another 28 years, until one of my kids takes it over."
CORRECTION: Ben Komer graduated from Pitzer College and swam for the combined Pomona-Pitzer swimming team. An earlier version of this story contained other information.
