Rice Memories: Erin Mattson
7/30/2020 10:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving, Blog
"Of course, the team's biggest (and my all-time favorite) accomplishment during my time was winning Rice's first conference title," Mattson recalled. "That year we really defined what it meant to have depth as a team. Every single Owl stepped up to fight for points and represent Rice Swimming. It wasn't about any one or two stand-out swimmers like some of the other teams were relying on. I am extremely grateful that I got to be a part of that. As this was during my 'victory lap' fifth year due to my sophomore redshirt, I had seen several classes come and go that had put so much heart into the team but never got to experience that moment. It was very humbling to be able to stand on the shoulders of all the women that came before us that helped make that goal a reality.
"I do hold winning an individual conference title and swimming Rice's first sub 2-minute 200-fly very high on my list, but I think, collectively, that how I swam at my final conference meet was next-level for me. My road at Rice was rocky for sure, starting with redshirting my sophomore year for a chronic shoulder injury. Setbacks continued to pile on, and at the beginning of my fifth year, I was coming off an ankle surgery, still doing PT for my shoulders, and had seizures on the deck after the first meet of the season. I ended up needing heart medication and iron supplements. I missed so much of the season that I could have filed for a second redshirt year, but decided to try for conference anyway and wrap up my collegiate career. I ended up making finals in all of my events and even got a podium spot in the 200-fly, thereby contributing to the team's conference title. I didn't have any best marks that time, but as a scoring swimmer trying to get us to the title, I swam purely on heart because I didn't have the health to swim on anything else. Overcoming all of those obstacles to still succeed definitely makes that conference meet one of my favorite accomplishments.
"I remember getting to be a part of the team that broke in the new outdoor facility was amazing. It was also substantially easier to invite students to meets once they were held in the beautiful outdoor pool! 😎 In general though, I always loved training trips and travel meets. Training in Puerto Rico and at the Olympic training center in Colorado was awesome. I came to Rice from a small town in Illinois and some people there never leave that town their entire lives! Consequently, I try to take advantage of every chance I have to travel. Even though my response to most travel questions of 'Have you ever been to _____?' is, 'I don't remember...What university is there? Can you show me a picture of the pool!?' I was always really grateful to get opportunities to travel around and experience new places through swimming. I also loved how small the swimming world is. There were several meets we went to where I got to compete against old club teammates again and catch up.
"After graduating from Rice, I bounced around a lot. Initially, I moved to Switzerland to utilize my dual citizenship to swim internationally. My final race was a relay that set a Swiss national record. It was a nice way to end my swimming career! I moved back to the States and obtained a Master's degree in Marine Biology, with a thesis focusing on seal whisker sensory systems. After completing my M.S., I received a grant to continue my research in Germany for 10-months. Upon my return, I moved to Mississippi to serve as Assistant Stranding Coordinator for injured, sick, or dead sea turtles and marine mammals along the Mississippi coast. As I really enjoy anatomy and working in the wildlife health field, I accepted a job last year at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay as the Pathology Technician. I assist the pathologist in investigating the causes of death of all of the collection and wildlife animals for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and SeaWorld Orlando. We also process the biopsies from live animals. Every day is a little different, depending on what cases come in. I definitely learn something new about anatomy and pathology every day!
"To this day, being a swimmer at Rice is still the most challenging thing I've done in my life. Waking up at 5 a.m., working out, going to class all day, working out again, going to physical therapy, taking evening labs, going to work on my thesis project, and getting home at 1 a.m. just to do it all again wasn't always amazing. A schedule like that happened pretty frequently, however, graduate school and every job I've had since then have benefited from the work ethic I refined as a student-athlete.
"I would tell a young club swimmer out there that competing while in college is challenging, and there are pros and cons. You might miss out on some perks of "normal student life," like sleeping in, traditional school breaks or social events, but I've never bonded with any group in my life the way that I did with my Rice teammates. The hotel stays, early morning practices, inside jokes, drooling on each other on bus rides... those things form a bond deeper than anything you'll get with a twice a week intramural team or language club. If I had to do it over, injuries and all, I would still choose to be a Rice student-athlete, no contest."