Wolverine Olympians Chidester, Haughey and Micic Discuss Life on Hold
4/14/2020 11:25:00 AM | General, Softball, Women's Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Features, Olympics
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Learning that the 2020 Summer Olympic Games had been postponed one full year from their scheduled July 24 start date was a bad news-good news revelation for qualified University of Michigan athletes Amanda Chidester, Siobhán Haughey and Stevan Micic.
The bad news: The Tokyo Games they had been gearing up for in recent years were put on hold four months before their departing for Japan.
The good news: Unlike the NCAA championships on the horizon this spring, the Olympics were not done and gone. They were rescheduled to begin July 23, 2021.
Micic, a wrestler, recalled his immediate dismay in hearing the news.
"I was pretty upset, to be honest," he said. "I was sad. I was nervous right after it was canceled. But then it was a relief when I realized it was only going to be postponed for a year. I was able to kind of regather, and I still have time to prepare. And then I looked at all the collegiate sports and professional sports being halted, too. The Olympics really are the only thing being postponed a year. And I'm already qualified, and don't have to requalify again. I just had to put a pause on it, and not start over again."
Chidester, a softball player, quickly adjusted.
"It's been a whirlwind of emotion to say the least," she said. "Every day, there's something new that's coming up. So, it's going to be, 'What's going to happen today? What kind of news are we going to get today?' But it was almost a relief when they decided to postpone the whole thing because with everything going on, and you're trying to play and this lockdown is still on, and you're in quarantine, you're not going to be ready to play on the highest stage.
"To push it back, it gives us a whole other year to get ready. It's OK, and it's going to be OK. It didn't really affect our team or take anything away from us. And it's going to make the Olympics even more exciting then."
Haughey, a swimmer, also is making the best of it.
"Obviously, I was a bit disappointed just because I had been training for this meet not just this year but for the past two years," she said. "This has been my main focus for the past two years. But I understand why they made that decision, and I think it's the right decision.
"Leading up to it, I was suspecting the IOC (International Olympic Committee) would postpone it because countries were already pulling out of the (2020) Olympics, and the (COVID-19 pandemic) situation wasn't getting any better. But I am glad they made that call because it was stressing me out just to maintain my training routine. Now that it's postponed, I don't have to force myself to find a pool or keep up my training. I can just stay safe, healthy, and make sure people around me aren't getting sick as well."
Chidester moved to Orange, California, with the family of her brother. Micic moved back with his family in Cedar Lake, Indiana. And Haughey has stayed in Ann Arbor, doing more baking and cooking than usual, also while passing time working on jigsaw puzzles.
Here are their stories:
Micic Treasures Time with Family, Ability to Continue Wrestling
Micic is qualified to represent Serbia, his grandparents' homeland, in the 57–kilogram (125.7 pounds) weight class, which also involves a "weight cut" for Micic, who is working with a nutritionist to accomplish that the right way. He was the NCAA runner-up at 133 pounds for Michigan in 2018, and finished third in 2019. Micic was taking an Olympic redshirt this year to focus on training and will now return to the Wolverines in the upcoming season and begin graduate studies in sport management before then putting all his energy into wrestling in Tokyo.
He had been working out at the Bahna Wrestling Center with Michigan teammate Myles Amine, who will become the first wrestler to represent San Marino in the Olympics. Amine is from Brighton, Michigan, but is able to wrestle for the tiny European nation because he also holds dual citizenship.
"We were using Michigan's facilities," said Micic, "but now everything's closed and halted. Myles and I had different wrestling partners, but we had been working out together. Myles is my best friend, and I've been able to talk to him often. We're roommates, and when we do come home, we'll get back together.
"But right now, he's with his family and I'm with my family for a while. I know he's thinking the same way I am about how things are going, and we're both going to compete again collegiately next season."
It has helped having someone so close sharing the exact same circumstances.
"Yeah," said Micic, "it's crazy. And I actually went to Northwestern first and was a year ahead of Myles. I recruited him to Northwestern, but he went to Michigan, and by the end of the year I decided to transfer and picked Michigan. That's when we became really close."
Now, Micic is wrestling back home in Indiana with a high school friend in a pole barn near his family's house.
"I'm trying to stay in shape and work on a lot of technical areas," said Micic. "Luckily, my training and wrestling partner now, Paul Petrov, grew up with me and we went to the same high school (Hanover Central). We run with other friends, too.
"There's a pole barn that we have (access to), and we're able to work out in it without finding a public facility, which are all closed. We have mats in there and clean them every time we go in, and we're good to go. It's better than being in the basement."
Petrov wrestled at 125 pounds for Bucknell, where he was a three-time NCAA qualifier and three-time team captain.
"Paul's really tough," said Micic. "He's always been in the top eight in the country. It's super good having him around because we've been wrestling together since third grade. We were both state champs and went to Division I schools. He's like a brother. He knows me best, and I still plan on taking him with me to the Olympics when we have them."
Social distancing and wrestling do not go together. However, Micic said he had been around Petrov before that practice became standard.
"We're just around people we're locked down with," said Micic. "I'm doing the social distancing."
They run distances and do hill sprints on his family's 70 acres, much of which is leased to farmers.
There was unbridled excitement in the voice of Micic -- who is highly motivated at a time when such fire is hard to find.
"The reason I wrestle is to compete and get better and be the best I can," said Micic. "If I can't control what's going on, that's not my problem. I can only look forward to what I can do next, and just keep improving and getting better myself. I'm also enjoying the time with my family. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity most of us weren't going to get again. So, we should value this time with loved ones.
"I'll have the Olympic opportunity eventually. It's just kind of a matter of time. I keep looking forward to, and striving to become an Olympic champ. I want to be an NCAA champ, too. Those things are all I can do. All of that's definitely motivation. And I think we have a super strong Michigan team that can win the national title as well."
Chidester Rebounded From "Shattered" Wrist, and Now ...
Chidester won a gold medal with the U.S. at the 2016 World Baseball Softball Confederation championship and was a dominant hitter -- batting .591 with seven home runs in 22 at-bats, while amassing 18 RBI, 11 runs and an off-the-charts 1.727 slugging percentage.
"You're always trying to find a run like that as a player -- getting in that zone and having that feeling," said Chidester. "That summer, I was able to find it. It was huge and a big summer for the team winning at the highest level.
"And right after that, we found out that softball was going back into the Olympics. I had broken my (right) wrist in the semifinal game of that tournament. It was shattered by a pitch and it was crazy. But it didn't stop me. I had a top surgeon and made a full recovery. It gave me that drive and belief that I can get through anything, and I'm going to play in these Olympics. That was a big turning point for me: 'I'm going to go for this.'"
Had softball been an Olympic sport that year, Chidester likely would have become a national star. However, softball and baseball were removed from the Olympics in 2012 and 2016 before both were reinstated this year.
"We're all so fortunate to have fallen into those years where we are now playing softball in the Olympics," said Chidester, 30. "There were players who ended up being either too old or too young to do this."
She takes special pride in wearing the red, white and blue.
"It's hard to put doing that into words," said Chidester. "It's the highest of the high, and to be one of 15 wearing those uniforms is, 'Wow!' It's almost too good to be true. I've dreamed of this moment, worked for this moment. I'm so proud to put on that jersey and give it everything I have every time I go out on that field."
Chidester is staying in Orange County with her brother, Matt, and his wife, Juliana, and their son, Gabriel, 2, as well as her friend, Anissa Urtez, a member of Mexico's Olympic softball team. They leave only to get groceries.
"But we've got Gabe running all around," Chidester said with a laugh. "So, I'm just hanging out with my nephew and trying to get through things. I've been working out. I went out and got some ankle weights and a yoga mat, doing some body-weight stuff. I'm jogging, doing some sprints. I'm trying to keep my fitness at some sort of level.
"I've been trying to keep a schedule. Being an athlete, we like routines and having everything set. All the parks here are closed, and it's been tough in that sense. But, luckily, it's been pretty nice in California. So, we get outside and soak up some of that."
She doesn't have a sock net or a batting tee, which would allow her practice swings in the backyard.
"I don't have any of that," said Chidester, "but when I'm able to get back home to Michigan, I'll get some hitting in. I've been taking a break in that sense because I know nothing will be coming up soon. But I've been keeping up with my nutrition, journaling the workouts I can do. I mean, I haven't had a break like this in a long time. So, my body's probably loving it right now."
Chidester won silver medals with the U.S. in the 2012 and 2014 WBSC world championships before winning that gold medal four years ago and had never had a break from high-level softball.
She was the Big Ten Player of the Year and Michigan team captain in 2011 and 2012, and was an All-America third baseman as a senior, batting .423 with 13 homers and 79 RBI for legendary coach Carol Hutchins.
"I live in Ann Arbor still," said Chidester, raised in the Detroit suburb of Allen Park, "and Hutch lets me use all of the facilities and anything I need. It's been huge in my training and allowing me to achieve everything I have. So, I can't thank her enough. She said, 'You don't come to Michigan for four years. You come for life.' And she stands by that."
Chidester played catcher, shortstop, second base, third base and outfield for the Wolverines as one of the most versatile players in the storied program's history.
"I'm playing either catcher or first base now," said Chidester. "I go back and forth, and a few times I've been in the outfield. So, I'm still playing that utility role, and looking to hit to stay in our lineup."
She can't wait to see her name in a lineup again.
"We're going to get through all this," said Chidester, "and be much better for it."
Haughey Going for a Medal; Grad School on Hold
Haughey was primed to compete in the 100- and 200-meter freestyle for her native country of Hong Kong. She qualified in her signature event, the 200, in 1:54.98, and was ranked third in the world in that race. Her qualifying time in the 100 was 53.32, and she was ranked fourth in that sprint.
So, she is now fast enough to compete for a bronze, silver or maybe even a gold medal after becoming the first swimmer from Hong Kong in 64 years to reach the Olympic semifinals, finishing 13th in the 200 (1:57.56) at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
However, that challenge will have to wait, and she said Wolverine men's and women's head coach Mike Bottom helped her with his perspective, having lost his opportunity to compete in the 1980 Olympics in Russia that were boycotted by the U.S.
"It was definitely good talking to him," said Haughey. "He understood what us athletes are going through, and it's a terrible feeling knowing that your season is over or you won't be able to see the hard work you've done all year pay off. But he definitely gave us all a lot of positivity when we really needed it. It's nice having a coach that truly understands what you're going through."
Pools are closed everywhere, and I mentioned that Jimmy Fallon aired a video on the "Tonight Show" recently of a man, laying prone and slightly elevated off the ground with his face in a rectangular wash pan filled with water, doing swimming strokes complete with breathing technique.
"You have to be very creative now," said Haughey, chuckling. "My last time in a pool was (March 26). One of my teammates is from here in Michigan, and when the weather gets warmer, if the pool isn't open, we'll go to the lake and try to swim there.
"For now, I try to be active for at least two hours a day. I go on walks, do yoga, do high-intensity exercise circuits at home to get my heart rate up. I can't run right now because I have a foot injury, but I'm just trying to maintain my fitness level and that is a challenge. But it's also a break to reset and recover from all the hard work I had been doing. Hopefully, when the gym and pool are open again, I can train again."
Haughey is one of the outstanding swimmers in school history. She set 10 Wolverine records, was a 15-time Big Ten champion, a 14-time All-American and came so very close to becoming an NCAA champion, finishing second as a junior in the 200-yard freestyle.
She was named Michigan's 2019 female Big Ten Medal of Honor winner, receiving the honor the conference considers the top achievement for any student-athlete, and becoming the third member of the Wolverine women's swimming and diving program to achieve that distinction.
Haughey also is fluent in three languages as a result of her father being from Ireland and her mother being Chinese, and is perfect for international competition in every way.
She had quit a part-time job at a preschool one month prior to schools closing due to the coronavirus outbreak in order to focus solely on swimming. Haughey majored in psychology at Michigan, and is interested in helping young children develop. Her plans to attend graduate school for clinical psychology were put on hold for the chance at a second Olympics, but that also will be delayed now.
There is a large digital clock near the diving boards at the Canham Natatorium counting down to the Tokyo Games to the fraction of seconds.
"They're going to have to add another 365 days now," said Haughey.
Players Mentioned
