Men's Swimming and Diving | January 22, 2020

Joe Kirk adjusted his glasses. He stuck them on top of his head, read something close to his face and shook his head.
 
"How did I do?" A young Mark McElwee approached the legendary coach. He had just swam the 200 backstroke for the first time—"just for fun because we had already won the meet," as he puts it.
 
"Yeah," Kirk replied.
 
"Well?"
 
"You're swimming backstroke next meet."
 
Next meet, McElwee broke the school record. That year, as a sophomore, he went to Illinois for Nationals. The Explorers had Bob Moore in butterfly—"so that was well covered"—and as a result, Kirk tabbed McElwee for the 200 back again. He finished sixth and became an All-American. "I still have the medal."
 
If we were to look at the story of Mark McElwee through the lens of the profession that he went on to lead (as an English teacher), we would identify the key components, those central themes, and draw a thread that connects everything. That thread is belief.
 
By his own admission, McElwee didn't see himself as a "good athlete." He didn't consider swimming until his mother brought it up.
 
"I'd never been on a real team before…but I desperately wanted to be. My mother said, 'Why don't you try swimming because they have a pool at La Salle,' and I said 'I don't really know anything about swimming.' She said, 'You're really fast…no one can touch you when you're playing tag in the pool.' So I went out for swimming."
 
That "pool" his mother mentioned was a quarry just northwest of Philadelphia. Mike DeAngelis, head coach of La Salle High School, was getting a "real raw beginner" in McElwee. But again, that belief persisted.
 
"Mike DeAngelis took me on the team when I wasn't all that good. I had talent and he saw that. At the end of freshman year, he said 'Mark you're going to get your varsity letter next year as a sophomore.' [When I did], DeAngelis took me aside— he did this every year I swam there— he took me aside and said 'You're going to be a really important part of this team next year. You're not just going to be getting third place here and there, you're going to score a lot,' and he was right. Junior year, I got my varsity letter after just a few meets."
 
That belief persisted from getting a varsity letter to getting a scholarship, something that DeAngelis voiced one day. McElwee asked him "Am I really that good?" He replied, "No, but you're going to be."
 
When inevitably the high school senior fell into the hands of Mr. Kirk, the great coach made very clear where the emphasis would lie. "I don't like to give grants to mercenaries. I don't want to hire an athlete. I want someone who wants to be here [and] you wanted to be here." With academics accentuated, McElwee shone in the classroom. As for in the pool, he never really doubted himself or the direction he was going—largely because of the support he had from his coaches.
 
One of Kirk's great attributes that McElwee remembers is the ability to inspire certainty in his athletes. "When I swam for Joe, he was a great one for coming up to me, putting his arm around me and saying, 'Mark we got to win this event. You take this event we've got this meet and it's going to be awful hard to win if we don't get first place out of this,' and I responded, 'Okay coach, okay I'll do it.' I would go do anything for Joe."
 
Sure, McElwee remembers all of the great swimmers of his time. He's the 24th member of the swimming & diving program to be elected into the Hall of Athletes and the ninth from that era (which included Jon Walheim, Bob Moore, Skip Trowbridge, Thomas Johnson, Don Strunk, Joseph Dieterle, James Abel and Joe Kirk). As he puts it, "I would be lying to say that I didn't want this. I saw the other guys names and I thought, 'Oh man I was with those guys; it would be great to be there.'"
 
However, the most poignant meaning arises from the belief and support that those past and present showed in McElwee. When he reflects on this induction, he thinks of his father leaving work early to arrive in the middle of his high school meets, waving his jacket as he runs down the steps saying, "I'm here, I'm here." He thinks of his late wife, Christine, who cheered him on in the stands during his final Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship. He thinks of her at a swim meet when he was coaching after college, as she records scores in one hand and, in the other, rocks a carriage with baby Mark Jr. inside.
 
Mark McElwee Jr., who himself swam at La Salle, echoes the feeling of accomplishment for his father. "It's a little overwhelming, like 'oh wow it's finally going to happen'—this is the thing that he wanted. We all shoot for that one moment in time and he's going to have his for the day."
 
Although the recent passing of Christine in October will make for a bittersweet moment, the pride of it all perseveres. McElwee Jr.'s attempt to get time off for Saturday's ceremony displays just that: "I do police work now and I was talking to my captain the other day. I said, 'I know you got me off for this Saturday, I just really need to make sure that day sticks; my dad is getting inducted into the hall of fame at La Salle University.' And this guy understands basketball and I said, 'Do you know who Tom Gola is?' He said, 'Oh yeah.' Well my dad is going up on a wall with those people. Here is a guy that was one of the best players in college history and my dad is going to be up there."
 
That day is fast approaching—the long-awaited moment. His family will be there on the court with him, the past and present interchangeably present. Christine cheering. His dad waving his jacket. And somewhere, far-sighted Joe Kirk will be adjusting his glasses.
 
Postscript: A Message from Mark
 
To the people who made me: my mom, who encouraged me to start swimming. My dad—my number-one cheerleader throughout my career. Coach Mike DeAngelis, who always had faith that I'd be a force in the pool someday. Joe Kirk, who told me that my education came first and knew that a pat on the back would get more out of me than I knew I had. Christine, at her beautiful best in the stands of West Chester in '68, helped me win a gold medal at my final Middle Atlantic Conference Championship meet. I married her. Missing her today. She's with us though, represented by my wise best friend, son Mark Jr., who also carried the family flag here; his wife, Becky and their Fiona GlenAnne; and our daughters, Christiana and Cassandra.