As Matt Zelen prepared to dive into the St. John’s (Minn.) University pool in January, swimming naked was probably the last thing on his mind.
“I was about to swim the 100-meter butterfly against eight or nine different teams,” he says. “I was excited and a little nervous because our team really needed these points to win.”
So focused was this 21-year-old competitor, so determined to start fast and strong, he forgot one very important little detail. He forgot to tie his suit.
Almost as soon as he hit the water, Zelen’s trunks slipped down to his knees. “Once that happened,” he says, “the cloth acted like a parachute against the water current and wound up around my feet. I was pretty much naked right away.”
For 51 seconds, four laps and 100 meters, Zelen blushed and wondered what to do. “I was pretty concerned,” he says. “This was a big meet. My parents were there. Even my grandmother was watching. I forgot to breathe for the first length of the pool.”
Once Zelen made the decision to finish the race, it was full speed ahead. “I passed my suit three times,” he says. “Every lap, I saw it floating right in front of me. I even had to move to one side so I wouldn’t catch it.”
When the heat was over, Zelen was victorious – in theory. “I won the event by over two seconds,” he says. “But the coaches got together and decided I was disqualified for a uniform violation.”
Still, this fanny-baring episode made him a legend on campus and won him a spot on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.”
“My best friend said he was proud,” Zelen says. “My coach said not to worry about it. And when the officials asked the women on the (starting) block to turn around and give me a little privacy to suit up, they said, `No way, we’ve got the best seat in the house.’ “
What about Grandma? “Oh, she was OK with it too,” Zelen says. “I promised her if I had been swimming the backstroke, I would have quit right away.”
