Charles Nailen/The Hoya Kevin Walsh

Sport: Swimming

Events: 100yd fly, 200yd fly, 100yd backstroke, 200yd backstroke

Hometown: Bethesda, Md.

High School: St. Anslem’s

School/Year: COL ’05

Major: Government

High School Highlights: Captain of club swimming team junior and senior years of high school . Won championship junior and senior years on the club team . Played soccer, basketball and baseball . Won the Coaches Award for soccer senior year . Team won conference in basketball senior year.

Georgetown Highlights: Broke Georgetown’s record in the 200yd fly . Holds the third-fastest time in the 200yd backstroke for Georgetown . Qualified for the ECAC in all four events junior year and in the 100yd and 200yd fly sophomore year.

When did you first start swimming? I did summer swim from when I was 5 until I was 18. And then I started swimming year-round when I came here. When I was younger, I wanted to do something during the summers, but I wasn’t very good at ball sports and I hated running.

Favorite thing about swimming: I really like racing people. I like looking over and seeing someone and knowing you have to go harder to beat them. I like the competition aspect. And it feels good to dive in.

Biggest obstacle you have had to overcome: I guess the biggest is being considered not that athletic at times and changing people’s perspectives. In high school, I had a hard time getting onto teams. I had to work hard. So it would be convincing people that I belong on the team. Like when I got here, I probably was the slowest in the fly.

What is going through your head during a swim meet? I count my strokes and think “Don’t swallow water.” Or a song. It’s either focusing on the stroke count or anything but swimming.

Favorite childhood memory: Probably country club swimming championships when I was 8. I won two individual events and a relay. The car ride home with my parents and having the trophies was pretty cool.

If you could trade lives with one person for a day, who would it be and why? I’d probably be Michael Phelps. I want to be able to go that fast and see how he trains and has to work to swim that fast. He holds the record in the 400m individual medleys, and he’s supposed to win seven events in Athens. He’s just ridiculously fast.

Characteristics you value most in a friend: Honesty and straightforwardness – when they’re upfront and willing to tell you when you’re being an idiot.

Person who knows you the best: I’d have to say my mom. She knows when I’m really nervous about something. She knows even before I tell her. And she understands that I’m competitive and when I need to focus on one thing or need to change my focus – like when I need to focus on schoolwork or getting a job.

Greatest non-sports related achievement: Passing 10th grade physics. At my high school, my teacher wrote his own textbook. It was supposed to be the hardest class at school. The year after I took it, they lobbied for there to be an easier section and they got it.

Favorite place to order out in Georgetown: Wingo’s.

Most prized possession: My dog, Max. He’s a German Shepard and a Collie mix, I think. We’re not really sure. At first, I didn’t like him because they got him to replace me when I went to school. We share a room now.

Do you have any siblings? I have a younger brother, Robby. He’s a freshman at Lehigh. He plays lacrosse up there.

If you could play on any other Georgetown team, what would it be and why? It’d be the track team. They’re really good and I’d love to be that fast at running. They put in a lot of work.

Biggest pet peeve: When there’s no ice in the ice tray.

Coolest place you have ever traveled to: I’d go with Spain. I went there after eighth grade and stayed in a town called Mas de Las Matas in Aragon. There were festivals in the summer, and it was just an awesome time. There were fireworks and everyone would go out. It was an awesome landscape, too.

If you were to die tomorrow, what would you want your last meal to be? My dad makes awesome salmon, and it would be that. I’d have spinach and dessert would probably be key lime pie and chocolate mousse. And I’d probably drink o.j., but it’d have to be Grovestand.

Favorite place on campus: Probably the fourth floor of the library. I started studying there in high school, so when I need to study that’s where I go.

Most embarrassing moment: I was a goalie in soccer, so anytime the ball went between my legs.

One bad habit you have: Just like checking espn.com and my e-mail when I should be working. I’ll just kill days online when I should be writing a paper or something.

First concert you ever went to: Jimmy Buffet with my parents, when I was probably 13. It was awesome. We’re big Jimmy Buffet fans – it’s not summer without his music playing.

One word you would use to describe yourself: Determined.

One word your best friend would use to describe you: Competitive.

One thing you could not live without: My bed. Living off campus, I have a tiny room and it’s just big enough to fit a king-sized bed. I have my bed, my desk pushed up right against my bed and then the wall.

Favorite stroke: The backstroke. It requires a lot less effort and you get to breathe all the time. It just feels a lot easier.

Craziest thing you have ever done: I decided to run a marathon at the end of swimming season. I ran the D.C. arathon in 2001. Running the marathon isn’t as bad, it’s the training that’s miserable. It’s supposed to take six months to train, but since I only had about five weeks, I really had to run every day. I couldn’t walk for like a month afterward, but when I was actually running it, it wasn’t that bad.

One thing you hope to do before you die: I want to do an Ironman Triathlon.

If you could have any one talent, what would it be and why? I’d be able to either read really fast or write paper really fast and well. I figure that the time I’d save with that, I’d be able to go out all the time. Either that, or I’d be able to fly.

Three magazines on your ideal coffee table: axim Magazine, The Economist and Popular Science.

Worst fear: Not getting a job.

Do you have to shave your legs for swimming? Yeah, twice a year, before the Patriot Invite when we’re trying to make our cuts and before whatever races we qualify for at the end of the season.

Movie you could watch over and over and not get sick of: Newsies. My brother likes it a lot and people I knew would watch it a lot when I was younger. I’d watch it over and over with a lot of people.

Worst movie you have ever seen: The Lord of the Rings – the first one. I fell asleep in the movie theater.

One thing that not many people know about you: I’ve gone to Georgetown basketball games since I was five because my dad is an alum and we lived in the area. So I grew up following it. I’ve been a fan since the Patrick Ewing era.

Favorite band/musician: U2. I like them a lot, even though my roommates despise them.

Favorite U2 song: “Beautiful Day.” I like it and it was the theme song for the 2000 Olympics – it was fun to watch.

If you were stranded on an island with one book, one CD, one person, what or who would you bring? Book: Trinity by Leon Uris, CD: August and Eveything After by the Counting Crows, Person: McKay Elliot (MSB ’07).

Farthest you have ever raced: I swam a race on the Chesapeake Bay. I got third in my age group. It was like 4.4 miles, and I did it in one hour and 45 minutes. It’s a building idea towards the Ironman.

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? I would go somewhere warm. Probably Belize, because they speak English and it’s warm.

What is under your bed right now? Everything. All of my stuff. I have four crates under it with all of my stuff – athletic stuff, shoes and books. My dresser is in the hallway.