July 26, 2011

By Samantha Franz
Athletic Communications contributor

Alarm at 6 a.m. Morning rush hour. Meeting. Number crunching. Conference call. Water cooler talk. Another meeting. Rush hour commute. Repeat.

This is the corporate grind and for many, this routine has become a way of life. But for Mike Koleber, who swam for Oakland University from 1985-87, living out his working years inside a 9 to 5 office setting just wasn't going to cut it. He wanted to take his passion for swimming and make a career out of it. A passion that was no doubt fueled by his time as a Pioneer.

In addition to the benefit of being close to home, Oakland had more than established itself as a collegiate swimming powerhouse in the mid-80s, so the prestige of wearing the Black and Gold was an obvious draw for Koleber.

"It was an opportunity to compete for one of the premier swimming and diving programs in the country for one of the best coaches ever, Pete Hovland," said Koleber.

Of course, as any student-athlete can attest to, there is much more to competing at the collegiate level. At the end of the day, one is a student above all else, a learning experience Koleber gained first hand as a Pioneer.

"Contrary to what public perception is regarding student-athletes, we still had to get our work done, take the exams and then not have any spending money because all of your `extra' time was spent training" he said. "Try doing that with three and four day road trips in 15 passenger vans, sharing hotel rooms with three other guys, and oh yeah, still trying to get homework assignments and research papers done!

"But I wouldn't trade my memories of competing at Oakland for the world," he said. "I truly enjoyed living on campus and without sounding too corny, attending Oakland helped shape who I am today. The team was my fraternity and the classes were challenging yet enjoyable."

With a marketing degree in hand, Koleber saw the entire world in front of him and like many college grads, felt a little lost.

"I struggled after graduation trying to find my niche -- especially since the athletic years were behind me," he said. "It was hard to wake up every morning without that competitive sense of purpose that burns inside all athletes. It took me a while to find it, and it happened to be back at the pool-- teaching and coaching."

Which brings us to the beginning of our story.

Working a corporate job in Atlanta, Koleber longed to break out of the self-described `cubicle jungle' he found himself in with performance reviews, miniscule raises and having worth judged by a tight business standard.

"I looked around and saw other folks who had been where I was 10, 15, 20 years longer than I had been, and said to myself, `That's going to be me in 10, 15, and 20 years if I don't do something about it," Koleber said.

That's when the former Pioneer decided to roll the dice. He and his wife, Tracy, raised investor money and after six years, Nitro Swimming was open for business in 2007 in Cedar Park, Texas, just north of Austin.

The 28,000 square foot facility has two pools inside, and currently 2,000 kids are enrolled in swimming lessons and over 800 kids participate in competitive swim team groups.

"As a swim program, we're on the rise, and plan on continuing in that direction. As Tony Robbins says, `You're either climbing or sliding.' We'd rather be climbing--it's more fun that way."

And Koleber is definitely climbing: his success has allowed him to celebrate a milestone this year when Nitro Swimming opened up its second location this past May in a suburb called Bee Cave on the southwest side of Austin.

Though most of his time is now spent teaching lessons, coaching and running the facilities, Koleber looks back fondly on his time as an Oakland student-athlete and advises current students to relish in every opportunity while they can.

"Work as hard as you can for the short time that you are there," he said. "The shortest years of my life were the years I competed at OU," he said. "The time goes so fast! Make as many great friends as possible and make a lot of stories. Before you know it your time is up, and you're graduating!"

For more information on Nitro Swimming, click here.

-OAKLAND-