During the football games, it is likely to see guys wearing nothing but speedos , dancing around, cheering loudly or even being lifted up in the air by fellow peers and fans. But that is not too common in the basketball games –until now.
“Air Swimming” has now become a popular label for two N.C . State swimmers. Redshirt junior Greg Baskwell and senior Nick Schauer can be spotted during some of this year’s basketball games. But they are sighted with much more than speedos ; they can be seen with goggles, caps, snorkels, fins and paddles.
Since Baskwell has been inactive this season due to his redshirt , he views “air swimming” as an alternative to competing for the Pack this season.
“Although I cannot compete in any real swim meets this year, I can at least air swim during basketball games.” Baskwell said.
The two swimmers use this tool of distraction called “air swimming” during the opposing teams free throws. Fellow teammates lift them up in the air and they pretend to be swimming through water. The two have no problem with being caught wearing speedos since they are already part of the swim team.
“Nick and I are probably the fastest two-man air swimming relay in the country,” Baskwell said. “And we really didn’t think twice about being seen in speedos by thousands of people because Nick and I have shown more skin than a National Geographic woman since we were five years old.”
Their first-ever basketball appearance came when State played Wake Forest. The majority of the swim team was at the game so Baskwell and Schauer had enough people to lift them up. But the team had seats on the side where the band sits so the fun did not begin until the second half when the Deacs began playing offense on their side of the court.
The swimmers wore actual clothes walking into the RBC Center, but when the second half approached the serious “sport” began and the clothes came off. So they were 99.9 percent naked and ready to go but they couldn’t “swim” until Wake Forest started shooting free throws.
Once fouled, junior Conor Brennan and a few other members of the swim team hoisted Baskwell and Schauer up and they started doing their thing. Schauer believed they swam their best that night.
“We swam our lifetime best which resulted in a missed free throw by the Wake Forest player,” Schauer said. “But somehow he was able to refocus and make the second one.”
Many of the swim team members think that what the two men do is humorous and have asked if they could join them. But Schauer and Baskwell believe that since they are the co-founders of this “sport”, they feel that right now only they should be swimming.
However, an emergency situation came about during the Virginia Tech game where Schauer could not miss class to come to the game.
“We ended up not having many swimmers at the game so I called up Kohl Hurdle, a freshman on the swim team, from the minors to see if he was ready for the big leagues,” Baskwell said. “Kohl and I were in need of some lifters, so we got Stacey Smith, a freshman on the women’s soccer team, and she put our usual lifters to shame.”
Fans may see Hurdle “air swimming” in the years to come if Schauer were to retire from this “sport”.
Schauer and Baskwell are still unsure if they will be seen in their gear for the next basketball game versus Clemson. In order to be lifted in the air, they need lifters, but sometimes not everyone’s schedules match up. Additionally, they do not want to lose the originality of “air swimming” so they take it one game at a time.
