NAC Masters: Getting to Know Bill Thompson

Q-You’ve had a few impressive races lately.

A-Admittedly,  the first couple of meets after my 30-year hiatus were a bit surreal. Any mistakes I could make I definitely didn’t waste the opportunity to make them. The recent ones felt much more instinctual; it was easier not to think, and just let it rip (for better or worse).   

Q-How’d you end up in Nashville and at NAC?

A-For the last five to 10 years, I‘ve thought often that once I retire, I would like to join a masters program and see if I could qualify for a Nationals meet. When my retirement date was approaching, it was literally put-up or shut up. At that time, I worked with couple guys who were at NAC, and they both said it was a great program. For the record, it took me three months of swimming on my own before I had the courage to contact Ashley. After 30-plus years out of the water, there were some really, really, really, rough days.

Q-Where were you born? What is your history and your swimming history?

A-I grew up on Long Island and started swimming at about eight all the way thru college at Stony Brook University - D3 at the time.

Q-Tell us about your family? Life outside the pool? 

A-Martha my wife of 30 years and our three sons: Scott 22, Grant 20, and Luke 17, and a 85lb Newfoundland puppy.   When everyone is home it is LIVELY !  All three of my sons run cross country / track & field, so a lot of our lives revolve around those programs and meets.

Q-What gets you to the pool in the morning?

A-A combination of two things: One is having a goal time and specific meet set and working to see if I can hit it. The other, which is equally important, is having my teammates / lane-mates around. If I tried to train by myself, it would be a miserable disaster.

Q-What’s next for you? In the pool and outside of it?

A-In the pool, short term probably just to maintain a schedule until I lock in on another goal. The the two ideas floating around are a 50 meter swim in a World Masters Championship. The other goal is seeing if this body has one more ‘sub 50 second‘ 100 yard freestyle in it. Out of the pool, we are headed to Germany for a couple weeks and we are super excited about that.

Q-Anything you’d like to add? How important is swimming to your life?

A-I do think swimming  is something that gets in your blood for a variety of reasons. If you didn’t enjoy the environment and challenge, it’s probably something no sane person would do.

Q-What haven’t I asked you? 

A-The other activity that I am really happy about in retirement is I’ve become a Big Brother. It’s fun and really satisfying at the same time, so I highly recommend it !