Men's Swimmer P.J. Koppel

On The Clock With P.J. Koppel

March 11, 2011

Senior men’s swimmer P.J. Koppel has been a valued contributor to the Notre Dame men’s swimming team since joining the squad in 2007-08. The Wilmington, Del., native has participated in the butterfly the breaststroke and the individual medley during his Irish career. After sitting out his sophomore year with an injury, Koppel has rebounded to turn in his career bests in all of his events over the last two seasons. At the recent BIG EAST Championship, he finished second in the consolation round of the 200 breast with a career-best time of 2:01.99. He followed that with a seventh-place finish in the 200 butterfly, finishing that race in a career-best 1:50.44. Following the BIG EAST event, und.com’s Vicky Jacobsen had a chance to catch up with the chemical engineering major to talk about swimming and his four years at Notre Dame.

Of the events that you swim, which is your favorite? “My favorite event is the 200 Fly. I just started swimming it, so it’s fun to change it up from my normal events.”

What is the most difficult event that you swim? “The most difficult event is the 400 IM. I like to go out as fast as I can and sometimes it can start getting pretty ugly by the last 100.”

What is the coolest thing that you have gotten to do as part of the swim team? “The coolest thing we do is a team Speedo run through campus the Friday before the first home football game. Those will go down as some of my best college memories.”

How many laps do you swim on the average practice day? “A good practice when we are at our peak training is about 8000 yards, which is 280 laps.”

What is the most exciting race that you’ve ever watched or participated in? “Easily my most exciting race was the 400 Free relay at Big East my sophomore year. It was the last race of the meet and the winner between Notre Dame and Louisville would win the meet. We were seeded 4 seconds behind Louisville, but in true Notre Dame fashion we took the lead early and won it.”

What accomplishment are you most proud of? “My proudest accomplishment is coming back from my knee injury sophomore year and being able to contribute to the team in my last two years.”

If you could wear a swim cap with any design, what would it be? “If I could wear any design it would probably be a plaid swim cap.”

What is the best movie that you’ve seen in the past year? “The best movie I saw last year was – “Inception” – it was great. Cobb is definitely dreaming the whole time.”

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? “I am not sure what my favorite flavor is called. It’s at the dining hall and it has little Reeses Cups in it, but you have to mash it up to soup consistency before you eat it.”

When you were ten years old, what did you think your future profession would be? “I wanted to be a lawyer for a long time, but I when I found out they needed to do a lot of reading I lost interest really quickly.”

What is your favorite type of music or favorite musician or musical group? “Nickelback has always been my favorite band – they just put out hit after hit.”

What is your favorite time of year? “Summer time is my favorite (of course.) There’s nothing like wearing shorts and flip flops.”

What is your pet-peeve? “I really hate when people don’t use their turn signals when they are driving.”

If you could improve one thing about yourself, what would it be? “I would probably be more organized. I am always losing phones, wallets and iPods. Also my roommates think I live like a hobo because my room is always a mess, and a lot of times I don’t wear socks.”

What do you miss most about your hometown? “I obviously miss my friends and family, but I also miss Wawa. Their home-style roast beef sub, although extremely sloppy, is absolutely amazing. Sadly I think they have stopped making it.”

What will you miss most about Notre Dame after graduation? “I will miss my friends and teammates. Also, I will miss having everything I need in walking distance.”

What is one thing that you want to accomplish before graduation? “I am thinking about trying to do the Holy Half in April, so that is one of the last things I would like to accomplish here before I graduate.”

What is your favorite spot on the Notre Dame campus? “My favorite spot is South Dining Hall – I have a lot of good memories from SDH.”

What has been your best moment of your Notre Dame experience so far? “My best moment was hanging out on the beach during our training trip in Puerto Rico. It was awesome.”

What is your favorite Notre Dame tradition? “My favorite Notre Dame tradition is having a good time at football games in the fall.”