* * Evan Gregg is Superman

Anybody who is worried about the next generation hasn’t met Evan Gregg.

Evan is 22 years old, a recent graduate from the University of Michigan, and I swear he looks like Christopher Reeve’s Superman. He’s 6’3” tall and 185 lanky pounds of rock-solid muscle.

I’ve known Evan since he was a mere pup, as his parents, John and Leslie Roberts Gregg have been friends of ours forever. Evan is a month older than our daughter and their schooling through Blacksburg Montessori, Blacksburg Middle, and Blacksburg High have paralleled each other.

Evan is home now in Lusters Gate, but we caught up and discussed his sterling career in Michigan, where he was captain of the swim team that won the National Championship.

“My dad graduated from the University of Michigan, but he never put pressure on me to go there. While I was a junior at BHS, I met the man would become Michigan’s head coach who recruited me. I know Dad was glad I chose Michigan.”

John Gregg is the most impressive human I know. He is a surgeon, scholar, researcher, athlete, and musician.

Evan said, “Academically and athletically, dad is a great person to look up to. Dad was a national caliber sprinter. He decided to pursue academics and has multiple degrees from UM.”

Leslie is one of Blacksburg’s most beloved people, a portrait artist of incredible skill. Yet in spite of his pedigree, Evan claims he never felt any pressure to excel. Showing his humility, he said, “At every level, I found better people. I always focused on working my way up, getting better, and trying to appreciate it as much as I could along the way.”

His events are frantic sprints, the shortest lasting only 20 seconds or so. “All swimming events are endurance events, even the sprints. We do lots of (weight) lifting and working on aerobic capacity. We need to have good aerobic fitness. My best event is the 50-free (50-meter freestyle).”

The gap between excelling and finishing in the pack is astonishingly small. Evan’s best time dropped from 20.98 seconds in high school to 19.70 seconds in college, an improvement of around 6%. He participated in a relay race were the time spacing between the first and third place team was in 3/100 of a second, the length of a fingernail or less. It is imperceptible, viewable only by the electronic finishing pads. “It can be really intense,” he admitted.

In the midst of intensive training of upwards of 20 hours per week, Evan worked 12-15 hours in a medical research laboratory and still graduated with a degree in neuroscience. “I had a good foundation academically from my schools here in Blacksburg. I felt very prepared. Being around hard-working peers helped. This was a good place to grow up.

“I got some ribbing for being from ‘Down South’ even though I don’t consider this area Down South. I had teammates from New York, California, Washington, all over. I really loved the diversity, the different cultures, religions and backgrounds. We didn’t always get along, but we had a common goal and we worked towards it.

“My proudest moment was winning our conference meet my sophomore year. We were expected to win my freshman year, but Ohio State had a better meet. In my second year, we worked hard and got the win. It helped me understand that everybody (on the team) was crucial.

“Winning requires close attention to detail. That is one of my lessons for life. This came into play in the classroom as well. I tried to do every assignment to the best of my ability. In college, everybody was hard-working, or smart, or gifted or talented. I knew I needed to give it my best. I remember the first week at Michigan being just shocked at how much more I’d need to work and strive.

“My schedule was packed! I got up at 5:30 (a.m.) and practiced from 6:45-8:30, then had some breakfast and went to class and worked at the research lab, then had more class with lunch thrown in somewhere, then more class, then more practice, then dinner, then some studying and homework, then bed so I could get up and do it all over again the next day.

“Now that I’ve graduated, I’m filled with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. There are lots of opportunities and lots of things to try. New goals to look towards. More decisions to make.”

Evan is starting a Master’s Degree in Public Health at Virginia Tech (He’s finally a Hokie!) and applying for medical school. “If I feel any pressure, it is internal. My parents have been completely supportive. I want to pursue an occupation where I can feel fulfilled and can make some advancements. I want to give back to my community and the people around me.”

Hopefully, he’ll stick around.