North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: NCAA champ Jones enjoying spotlight
8/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH Former NC State swimmer Cullen Jones appears ready to take international swimming by storm.
Jones, who won the NCAA Championship in the 50 freestyle in March, is coming off a world-record setting performance at last weekend’s Pan Pacific Championships in Victoria, British Columbia, as a member of the 400-meter free relay team.
He also won the 50-meter freestyle in a time of 21.84 seconds, finishing ahead of defending World Champion Roland Schoeman of South Africa, who has the second fastest 50 free time in history. And, for good measure, he is now the No. 1 ranked sprinter in the 50 free, which by tradition makes him the fastest swimmer in the world.
Not bad for a rookie.
“I am a rookie, but I am feeling better all the time,” said Jones. “I was just excited to go out and compete, represent my country and my school. I couldn’t have asked for a better meet.”
While the meet was last weekend, NBC will broadcast three hours of coverage of the event, beginning Saturday at 2 p.m. EST and Sunday at noon EST. Sunday’s coverage is slated to include a lengthy segment about Jones, the first African-American swimmer to be a part of a world-record performance.
“We couldn’t be prouder of what Cullen has done,” said NC State swimming coach Brooks Teal, who helped Jones develop his technique and improve his strength during the swimmer’s four years on the Wolfpack swimming team. “We were really impressed with his time in the 100-meters in the relay.
“We’ve always known that he had some good 100-meters in him, and we have been waiting for him to show it.”
Jones has gotten much attention, ever since he broke the World University Games record in the 50-meter free last summer in Turkey. He’s been on the rise ever since, and is considered one of USA Swimming’s future stars, as this bio and blog entry clearly suggest.
He performed well this spring at the World Short Course Championships in Shanghai, China, where he won a silver medal in the 50-free. He also swam the fastest time in the world this year in the 50-meter free at the U.S. Summer National Championships earlier this month.
He’s still getting the inevitable comparisons to Tiger Woods, because of his ground-breaking success in a sport that has relatively few African-American competitors. But trust Jones when he says he doesn’t mind.
“Being compared to Tiger Woods never gets old,” Jones said. “He and Michael Jordan are my idols, and I can only hope that one day I could accomplish what they have.”
Jones has joined those two athletic superstars in one area he just signed a seven-year, multimillion dollar deal with Nike, which makes him the highest paid sprint freestyler in the world. Not that he’s flashing cash all over Raleigh.
“The money will be nice,” Jones said. “But I haven’t gotten that first paycheck yet.”
Besides, Jones’ deal pales in comparison to the new agreement that will be announced in coming weeks Nike and Woods, which could be between $30-35 million per year.
With the biggest meets of the summer now over, Jones is anxious to get back to school. He is enrolled for fall classes at NC State, still pursuing his degree in English. He’ll be training full-time at NC State as well, continuing to prepare for his ultimate goal, the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
But he’s anxious to return to his relatively anonymous life on campus, to sit back and relax for a while, though still continuing his relentless workouts.
“My next goal is to get a little stronger,” Jones said. “I believe I can add a little more muscle to my frame, which should help me even more when I swim in the 100 free.”
Tim Peeler can be reached at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
