Mike Rouleau is working on his second breakfast of the day: a meat-lovers omelet, three plate-sized buttermilk pancakes, and a large orange juice; make that two large orange juices.
It is 10 a.m., and the 15-year-old Maple Grove swimming phenom had just wrapped up an intense two-hour practice in the pool. Considering it had been a hair over three hours since he had “a little something” for breakfast—which consisted of four toaster waffles, a tub of warm maple syrup, and a yogurt—the young man, who has a negligible amount of body fat, was famished.
“I’ll probably have lunch in a few hours,” he says, happily loading a bit of eggs onto his fork. One quickly begins to understand the importance of food to Mike—and, just how accomplished he is at such a tender young age.
Growing Fast
Mike, whose dad had been a competitive swimmer in high school, tried other sports but never really connected with them; he had been in pools from an early age, but he tapped into a true passion for swimming when he was 8. “I really liked that it could be very individual,” he says, “just you against the water.”
He joined the Maple Grove Champlin Muskies Swim Club right away (the group has since merged with the New Hope Crystal Plymouth Swim Club) and quickly began to excel at the sport; at 12 he swept state and did it again when he was 14 – a huge accomplishment considering he swam in no less than six events. He has gone on to rack up some impressive stats, including being an 18-time Minnesota Swimming State Champion, garnering a myriad of top 20 rankings, and a qualifying time that allowed him to compete at the USA Swim Open Water Nationals this past June, just to name a few.
Mike, who is as modest as he is talented, relies on his mom Kris to recount his many successes and accolades – while he eats, of course. She also shares an amusing story about young Mike being startled by the starting horn of a 100-backstroke race at his very first meet, and falling, rather clumsily, into the water. “It’s ironic because he’s the state backstroke champion now,” she says with a proud chuckle.
Role Model
Mike vividly remembers when his passion for swimming ignited. He was watching another phenomenal Maple Grove swimmer, Curt Carlson.
“I was about 8-years-old when I saw Curt swim for the first time,” says Mike. “I remember thinking that I wanted to be as fast as he was.”
Carlson, who is seven years Mike’s senior, was one of the state’s most highly recruited swimmers when he graduated from Maple Grove High School in 2007.
“I was never really the hardest working swimmer when I was younger,” says Curt, the 6-foot-5, 13-time All-American, five-time Big Ten finalist, who just graduated from the University of Minnesota. “From the time I was about 7 to 11, I could be bribed with free dinners; that’s what motivated me,” says Carlson, a two-time Olympic trial qualifier. “But when I got to high school, I was really motivated by breaking records.”
Carlson virtually busted and set every swimming record at the school—many of which still remain.
Curt, like Mike, gravitated to the pool early, and has been swimming year round since he was 5. He was a member of several club teams, including the Maple Grove Muskies, NHCP, Team Foxjet and others, when he wasn’t competing on school swim teams. His career at the U of M is filled with awards and accolades. But, some of his fondest memories are of those when he swam in the 2008 Olympic Trials.
“It was just an awesome experience,” he says. “There were 20,000 people in the stands – a lot different than the 200 at regular meets – and to watch Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte compete, that was truly incredible.”
And, yes, he ate a lot during that time, too – up to 7,000 calories per day.
Passing the Torch
Curt is qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials, but he’s not quite sure if he’ll be there competing, or as a spectator due to a shoulder injury. “I’m going to wait until this fall to decide if I’m going to go for it or not,” he says.
But, making good use of his time while he was rehabbing the shoulder over the summer, Curt had the good fortune of coaching younger swimmers at NHCP. One of them was Mike Rouleau.
“I always thought I’d end up being a coach and giving back to the swimming community. I like to talk to the kids about what I’ve done and what I’ve learned,” says Curt. “They are all well on their way to great careers, especially Mike Rouleau. He is a very hard worker, driven and motivated. He’ll be better than me; he’ll be fine.”
Maybe the two can discuss their accomplishments over a nice, big meal.
