Men's Gymnastics Alumni Update: Conan Parzuchowski ('03)
5/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Conan Parzuchowski came to Michigan and as a freshman made an immediate impact with his trademark strength. He helped boost the Wolverines to their second consecutive Big Ten team title in 2000. Conan continued his competitive career as one of the team's most versatile performers, highlighted by three consecutive All-America citations on the rings. We caught up with him to see what he has been doing since his graduation.
Date of Birth: 9/15/80
Hometown/High School: Northville, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit
Education: B.B.A. in 2003, marketing and finance major
Currently: Living in Northville, Mich., working for the Washtenaw County Treasury
Michigan Milestones:
Four-year Michigan varsity letterwinner
Member of Michigan's 2000 Big Ten championship team
Three-time NCAA All-American on the rings (2001, '02, '03)
Current Michigan record-holder on the rings (9.725, 2003)
Academic All-Big Ten (2003)
Quick Q & A:
Q: You graduated from Michigan in April of 2003. What have you been doing since then Well, for a while I was enjoying the college life that I never had because of the practice schedule and the demands of the Business School, but after a while that became somewhat tiresome. What I would really like to do is have a career in the advertising field, and I thought that a position with Washtenaw County would give me some experience working with people and deadlines. So right now I am working with the Treasury Department in their property tax section.
Q: What has been the biggest change for you now that you're not training every day Do you miss competing The biggest change is that now I have to plan my life for myself and experiment with what steps to take next. In college and on the team it was easy -- you had a common goal and if you didn't know how to reach it or do something then your team or the coaches were there to help. I don't miss competing as much as I miss the fun of practicing. For me practice was the best part of the sport. But I always had to remember that we were practicing with a purpose and not just for fun.
Q: If you could chose any sport to be a pro athlete in, which sport would it be and why I guess if I could be a professional athlete I would choose golf or something mundane and low impact. That way I could play the game even into my 60s and 70s and not lose a step so to speak.
Q: What is the most memorable Michigan moment from your gymnastics career Unfortunately, the most memorable moment in my Michigan career was losing the NCAA Championships my freshman year in 2000. It was absolutely horrible. That's why you won't find me in any of the second-place pictures for that year.
Q: What do you want to be doing in 5-10 years from now I will be in a senior account position at an advertising house and probably starting a family. Hopefully I'll still remember all the good times and lessons I learned at Michigan five years down the line, and maybe I can give something tangible back to the U by then also.
Players Mentioned
