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Professor David Dowling at the Michigan State Masters Swimming Championships |
You would be hard-pressed to find a professor who spends more time in and around the water than David Dowling. Dowling's research spans a variety of topics in acoustics and fluid mechanics, and when he's not working, his favorite recreational activity is swimming.
In April 2005, Dowling participated in a Michigan State Masters Swimming Championship Meet held at Eastern Michigan University and placed first in his age group in the 200-yard butterfly competition. He placed third in the 500-yard freestyle event. Two ME graduate students participated in the meet as well. Ashish Deshpande placed second in the 200-yard butterfly; Erin McIntyre placed first in the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual medley events, setting three state records for her age group, and second in the 500-freestyle race.
Desphande learned to swim in India, where he grew up, with friends in a local lake. In high school, he joined a swim club and took lessons. He continued with swim classes once he came to U-M, joined the Michigan Masters group and now swims three or four times each week.
McIntyre learned to swim in her home state of Colorado when she was five years-old. Her older brother was a competitive swimmer and "I wanted to be just like him," she said. As an undergraduate at Rutgers University, she completed a project investigating the fluid flow pattern of the freestyle stroke. A three time NCAA Division 1 All-American, she placed 8th in the nation in the women’s 1650-yard freestyle in 2002.
Dowling also began swimming as a child. "I grew up in southern California, and my backyard had a 180-degree view of the Pacific. There were two kinds of people there: those who knew how to swim and had a normal life and those who stayed inside because they didn't know how. The beach was the social scene, and how can you go to the beach and not go into the water?"
During high school and college he played water polo. These days, Dowling says he swims "to prevent that inevitable waistline growth that comes with age. It's cheaper to swim than to buy new clothes," he says.
Swimming also provides mental clarity, he says. "With regular exercise I think better, and I'm able to sit comfortably at my desk for longer periods of time. I'm more irritable and cranky--than usual--when I don't swim. My wife can tell when I haven't been swimming. She tells me to go get my suit and not to come back until I'm tired."
Dowling regularly hits the water three early mornings per week. "Some people think that waking up at 5:30 or 6 o'clock in the morning certifies me as crazy. As a faculty member, a tenured, full professor, you're allowed to develop certain eccentricities, and I've concentrated on this one."
This "eccentricity" dovetails with Dowling's professional life, and he says that his love of the water certainly influenced his choice of acoustics and fluid mechanics as professional areas of inquiry. "Everyone watches steam billowing from smoke stacks, and wind swirl leaves in different directions as cars and busses go by. We look at flows; we watch vortices and eddies. In a sense, it's much more satisfying to me intellectually to connect with something I can stick my hands in and feel."
His work has also helped him hone his skill in the pool. "Swimming is a sport of conditioning and technique, and knowledge of fluid mechanics can help with technique. It can help put a well-conditioned swimmer on top," he says.
Dowling hopes to participate in the Michigan Masters Championship meet again next spring--it will be his fourth--although he says he won't plan his life around it. "My family and job come first. Swimming comes third, so if there's an important trip or something else occurring at that time, I won't be able to compete."
Dowling says he's enjoyed swimming with students over the 13 years he's been at U-M, including McIntyre and Deshpande. "Swimming is like running with someone else--you have to keep up. It's always nice to swim with someone half my age and twice my ability because I'm pushed to the limits of what I can do."