Scholar Stories: King Pulls Double Duty as Saxophonist, Swimmer
2/13/2019 9:53:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Features
Continuing the popular 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
Swimming or saxophone? These might seem like odd choices to have to make, but University of Michigan men's swimmer Alex King doesn't have to pick between two things he enjoys doing. He gets to do both.
When it comes to student-athletes and their chosen academic paths, King is rare. He is majoring in music performance with an emphasis on the saxophone, an instrument he's been playing since the sixth grade. So he knew he'd have a hard time studying anything else.
"I've always said that music is something that chooses you," he said. "It's something that envelops you. It's hard to imagine what life is like without music. I love it so much."
King has been interested in music since grade school. As a sixth-grader, he picked music over art, a decision that took all of seconds to make. He hated art.
To this day, he doesn't know why he took up the saxophone, only that it was a much more fun than piano, which his parents made him start learning when he was in first grade.
Midway through his time at F.J. Reitz High School in Evansville, Indiana, King decided that music would continue to be a big part of his life and committed to studying it in college. Each week, he'd have a 30-minute private lesson with Dr. Ron Attinger, himself a former student at the University of Michigan.
That time was the highlight of the week -- every week.
"If that's my best half hour every week," King says," why would I not do this?"
When picking his college, he narrowed his choices to Indiana (his home-state school), Illinois (which doesn't have a men's swimming team) and Michigan. For the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD), in addition to applying he also had to audition.
The admissions requirements state that applicants must upload unedited video recordings of at least two contrasting pieces (totaling 5-15 minutes) in the pre-screening phase. After gaining an in-person audition, applicants must be able to play 15 minutes of solo saxophone literature in addition to all 12 major scales and major thirds in all keys.
Once admitted to the school, all saxophone students -- whether a first-year student or doctoral candidate -- study under the direction of Dr. Timothy McAllister, a Professor of Saxophone at the SMTD. Students are required to perform three juries (performances for woodwind faculty) in lieu of final exams, with the biggest one coming at the end of the fourth semester. It's essentially pass/fail: if the student does a good job, he or she will pass. If he doesn't, he'll be held back.
King passed that, and by a large enough margin to earn Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recognition, an academic honor bestowed upon student-athletes who earn at least a 3.7 grade-point average. Now in his second semester as a junior, he's done recitals and has played with both the Concert Band and the Symphony Band. King has also performed in a saxophone quartet.
"Everything with that is more exposed and it's more obvious where mistakes are," he explained. "But it's really been fun, more of a group dynamic. You don't have a conductor or teacher working with you. It's just the four of you trying to figure out if you're doing this right."
King performs the national anthem from a diving platform prior to a Michigan home meet.
Though he got into Michigan, he wasn't guaranteed a spot on the men's swimming and diving team. He was a late-bloomer; he didn't start swimming until he was 11 and didn't start training year-round until his senior year of high school.
"Coming to college is tough if you train year-round, but if you don't, it's even harder," he said. "I knew coming in I'd just have to make it through freshman year. I barely made intervals in workouts. I would just swim for two straight hours."
"You have to stay mentally tough. There were a lot of days where I'd go home and think, 'It could be worse.' That was my mentality through those practices. You're going to have bad days no matter how good you are. Felix (Auböck) has bad days. Ricardo (Vargas) has bad days. Charlie (Swanson) has bad days. I'll have plenty -- and I've had plenty. But they all balance out with good days, good races and good practices."
Swimming runs in the King family, too. His older sister, Lilly, is undoubtedly one of the best swimmers on the planet, having won two gold medals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and setting a world record in the 100-meter breaststroke.
The two have always been competitive -- and supportive -- of each other, but temporarily less so when their respective schools face each other. Lilly is in her senior year at Indiana.
"Whenever she races and swims against Michigan, I just stay quiet," he says behind smile. "I see her swim, what she does, it's never mind-blowing to me. That's Lil."
Now, the younger King is ready to make his own mark. He'll suit up and make his postseason debut for Michigan at the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 27-March 2 in Iowa City, Iowa), another step forward in what's been a long process since his arrival at Canham Natatorium.
"I'm really excited for Big Tens," said King. "Freshman year, I redshirted and really wasn't able to race much. It was tough. Then sophomore year, I started to get the hang of racing and was able to contribute a little more. This year, though, I've really taken off, and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do."
King is on track to graduate and is already plotting his next steps. He'd like to pursue a master's degree at U-M, something that aligns perfectly with his fifth year of eligibility should he choose to take it. He would need to audition -- again -- and while there are no guarantees, he's confident in his chances. Down the road, he's thinking of becoming a saxophone professor because it would allow him to stay involved with the instrument and because, frankly, there aren't that many of them out there.
Some other schools might have had King choose between his two loves, but the University of Michigan provided the perfect mix.
"I had a terrible time in high school, so coming here has been really refreshing," he said. "Through those rough practices or when I can't play something on sax, I'm just reminded how happy I am to be here. It's been incredible and amazing and wonderful. I don't think I'd be happier anywhere else because everything has worked out so perfectly here."
Players Mentioned
