Scholar Stories: Women's Swimmer Schafer Exploring World, Education at Michigan
10/23/2019 11:15:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving, Features
Continuing the series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Prairie Farms.
By Brad Rudner
Growing up in Sydney, Australia, University of Michigan women's swimmer Jacqui Schafer knew what she wanted to do. She simply had to cross an ocean to get it.
In Australia, nearly everyone swims or knows how to, if only just to learn proper water safety. Schafer learned when she was 4 years old. But as she says, it isn't when you start -- it's when do you stop?
For Schafer, that was not after high school. She wanted a degree and knew that the only way to get the best of both worlds was to come to the United States.
Turns out, leaving home was not all that difficult.
"It was an appealing factor more than anything, actually," she said. "I love Sydney, but I wanted to explore the world. What better opportunity to do that than here?"
Her mother, Molly, is originally from Chicago. As a young girl, Schafer would travel there every year to see her mom's side of the family. They would often drive around the southern edge of Lake Michigan and spend a week vacationing on the beaches of western Michigan.
As a high school senior, Schafer made lists of the top 20 swimming schools and the top 50 academic schools, and cross-referenced the two. Academics were important within the family; Molly swam and studied at Harvard (1985-88), while older brother, Ben, did the same at Princeton (2015-18).
In her search, one place stayed at the forefront.
"If there was any place in the northern hemisphere that was my home, it was Michigan," she said.
Schafer has experienced ups and downs in her first three years. As a freshman, she was chosen by the coaching staff to attend the NCAA Championships with the team despite not having a qualifying time individually or on a relay. In lieu of swimming, she spent those four days on deck cheering and supporting her teammates, doing anything she could to keep the energy high.
The next year, as a sophomore, Schafer had her best year, qualifying for the final of the 200-yard backstroke at the Big Ten Championships. By her own admission, she was not having a great meet up to that point and did not expect to make it back. But after a pep talk from then-senior and training partner Clara Smiddy, Schafer went out and shaved two seconds off her previous career best during preliminaries to qualify (1:53.79); she eventually finished eighth in finals.
Yet for how good that time was, it was not good enough to make the NCAA Championships. She missed the invited time by a miniscule margin (.15 seconds). Somewhat ironically, the last spot that year went to Chloe Hicks, her current teammate who, at the time, was swimming at Virginia Tech.
"That was really tough to deal with," she said. "It was a fast time, but everyone else was a little bit faster. I'm definitely focused on dropping that time some more."
Schafer got sidetracked last year after contracting mononucleosis. She was held out of the water for weeks, but even when she got back in, she admittedly was not herself. Her times lagged, but her expectations were still high going into the postseason. She was able to score points for the team at the Big Ten Championships, but that is where her season ended.
If nothing else, last year's struggles have only added fuel to her fire. Schafer is the team's lone captain, using her personal motivations to help shape the course for this year's team.
As she's finding out every day, that's not always easy.
"It's hard to find a balance," she said. "If something needs fixing, do I ask nicely or do I become a strict enforcer? At the same time, our team is full of leaders. We have a good group of people who encourage and support each other every day."
"It's fun having an open leadership style. At the end of a good practice, I like calling on other people to break it down or lead us in a cheer. Just because you're a senior doesn't mean you have to be the one saying 'Go Blue!' all the time. We've had sophomores leading cheers. Everyone can step up, and they'll have to if we want to be the loudest team on deck."
When she's not in the pool, Schafer spends most of her time studying in front of a computer screen. She's majoring in computer science, a branch of study formed by her interests in both science and math.
She took an introductory class in her first semester of freshman year and has stuck with it ever since.
"It wasn't what I expected. I thought it would be very boring, but it's actually pretty creative," she said. "It's not necessary math where there's a problem and there's an answer in the back of a textbook. With computer science, you have to find the answer. There are no written methods."
"There's a good saying that one of my professor uses: 'Nothing is ever hard the second time.' The very first time, it's a real logic puzzle. Say you're writing a program trying to calculate the fastest way to get from A to B. You have to think of a solution at the end and say, 'This is what I expect to get' and write a program that gets you there. There's a lot of trial and error involved."
Schafer also is minoring in entrepreneurship, which she became interested in after studying abroad in Singapore. For a class project, she is working with Black Girl MATHgic, a Detroit-based group specifically targeted at reducing math anxiety in young black women.
"It works by showing what successful mathematicians look like," she said. "It's about normalizing math in everyday situations, like when you're trying to calculate how much change you get back when you pay someone. There are people who are like, 'Oh, don't ask me to do that math,' and then are stressed about it. It's a real thing."
Schafer currently is on the job market, but she also is not done swimming. One way or another, her career will end at some point next year, but not before swan songs at either the Australian or U.S. Olympic Trials. As a U.S. citizen, she's eligible to swim in both, and competing in both is something that is under heavy consideration.
Until that time, she is enjoying all of what her senior year has to offer.
"Being on this team has, in terms of swimming, changed how I view the sport," she said. "Swimming over here is so much more fun. You're a part of the team. The cheering is louder. The will to win is higher. It makes a difference, but it also makes you more motivated. It's showed me the value of team and that's something I'll carry with me as I go on."
"I've also had a unique experience in the classroom. Computer science is more developed and ever-present in the U.S. than it is back home in Australia. I'm really lucky to gain a bit of an advantage studying that here. Even though swimming takes up a lot of time, I've still been able to see a lot this university has to offer. It's given me a well-rounded experience, which I am eternally grateful for."
Players Mentioned
