No speed limit for cop turned swimmer

TACOMA -- They call him Old Man Turc.

Mike Turcott is a 43-year-old college swimmer. He has Speedos older than some of his teammates.

He has hair so thin Matt Hasselbeck could appreciate it, with gray sprinkled throughout. His cellphone rings classical music. His ginger gait after a morning practice suggests soreness.

Stroll Pacific Lutheran University's student center in search of Old Man Turc, and you only need to say you're looking for Mike. "Everybody knows Mike," the cashier lady in the cafeteria says. "He's downstairs getting coffee."

This weekend, a wild yet rewarding period in Old Man Turc's life comes to an end. He's retiring from college swimming after one season. He's competing in the 200- and 400-yard individual medleys and the 1,650-yard freestyle at the Northwest Conference Championships, which continue through Sunday in Walla Walla. After that, he just wants to be a dad/cop again.

No more rising at 4:55 each morning to drive from Olympia to campus in time for a 6 o'clock practice. No more hustling from practice to class to his job with the Washington State Patrol. No more working through lunch to finish up in time to make an afternoon practice. No more balancing fatherhood with school and athletics.

"I've enjoyed every minute, every moment," Turcott said. "No regrets. I'm ready for it to be over, though."

Old Man Turc swam only two years in high school. He first attended Pacific Lutheran from 1982-1985, but he didn't want to compete then.

For 21 years, Turcott stopped swimming competitively. He left college in 1985 to join the state patrol. In 2003, he hit the pool again to get in shape. He started competing in Masters events. He lost about 30 pounds.

Two years ago, he returned to PLU, intent on finishing his sociology degree. He added a physical education minor and began taking aquatics courses. That's how he came to know Jim Johnson, the PLU swim coach.

The two became friends, and one day the conversation shifted to a crazy idea: What if Turcott competed on Johnson's team?

In Division III, the NCAA has no age restrictions. But Turcott needed to become a full-time student to compete.

Somehow, he had to create time. He was used to taking four hours of classes each semester; he needed 12 now. The 40-minute commute from Olympia to Tacoma was about to become a regular thing.

But he had to do it this time.

"Back then, what kept me out of swimming was being a lazy, teenaged college student," said Turcott, who hopes to finish his degree by May 2008. "Things are important to me now that weren't then. Like seeking challenges instead of avoiding them. The rewards from facing challenges are tremendous.

"The rewards far outweigh being tired or being sore or stressed out. What's sad is that maybe some people never figure that out."

Here's how bad he wants it: Old Man Turc took five weeks of vacation to start the year so he could finish the season and balance the rest of his life.

"Some people might think that's crazy," Old Man Turc said, "but I had to do it."

While competing for PLU, Turcott has discovered it's easy to be normal. There are times when he feels like the old guy. Teammates joke that he gets tired before they do. But they are fascinated with asking him about working for the state patrol. Although he has a desk job now, Old Man Turc shares stories about his time on the highways.

At a Division III school, age isn't the unifier. The love of competition is. PLU isn't a school with high-profile, scholarship athletes. It's a university with students trying to get that last fix of athletics.

Turcott says there are three levels of PLU swimmers: good, average and then his group. His goal has been to compete, not make a fool of himself, and he's done that. But he's not winning races. He's just trying to get his team a few points here and there.

His proudest moment may have been helping the 400 freestyle B-relay team come from behind to beat the University of Puget Sound. It's nothing to brag about, but his efforts did help the Lutes eke out a victory over a rival.

Not every moment has been so joyous, however.

"There were a few times when I questioned what I was doing," Old Man Turc admitted.

He remembered this past September, during the third week of the season. He missed three days of practice to go to Wisconsin for work.

"I came back, and people in my lane had suddenly gotten a lot faster," Turcott said. "That was an eye-opener."

The trips were difficult, too, because he missed time with his daughters, 17-year-old Ashley and 12-year-old Kayla. In fact, he doesn't want to compete next season because he says he'd rather "go to their games than have them come to my swim meets."

"It took them a while to get over seeing Dad in Speedos," Turcott said jokingly.

Oh, but Ashley and Kayla must continue seeing the Speedos. Old Man Turc is done with the college kids, but he will continue competing with his Masters team. After a season with the young bucks, he just might dominate.

"I'm going to figure out the total number of yards I swam this season and convert it to miles," said Old Man Turc, who logged every workout this season in his Blackberry. "It's going to be a huge number."

It will be a number far more important than age.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com.