Typically when it comes to swimming, the cardinal rule – aside from waiting 15 minutes after you eat – is the less body hair, the better.
However, rules are meant to be broken, and no one on the Bulls swimming team follows that motto more than sophomore freestyle and backstroke swimmer Jared Heine. His powerful beard puts Wolverine to shame and – though he does admit it can slow him down – he will continue to grow it out until the end of the season.
'It holds a lot of water, but I won't shave it until [the Mid-American Conference Championships],' Heine said. 'I did it last year too, but [the beard] wasn't as awesome last year.'
Though he hasn't shaved his beard, he has shaved off time in the pool.
The facial hair did not slow him down enough to keep him from being a part of the record-breaking 200 and 800-meter freestyle relays last season. Along with etching his name into the school's record books last season, Heine also set a personal best in the 100 and 50-meter freestyle at the MAC Championships.
Heine swam a 45.23-second 100-meter, which was good enough for a silver medal at the MAC Championships, as well as a fifth place 20.63 second 50-meter. Head coach Andy Bashor doesn't really care about the beard as long as Heine keeps putting up his stellar times.
'He is a big part of this team with his swimming ability in individual events,' Bashor said. 'But he is also part of many of our relays.'
Heine's path to swimming was not as simple as walking into the backyard and jumping into a pool. He grew up on a dairy farm in Corry, Penn. and had to travel to the local YMCA whenever he wanted to swim. He started doing this when he was 7 years old and after years of practice, he went on to break Corry High School's records for the 50, 100, 200 and 500-meter freestyle, 200-meter butterfly, and 200-meter individual medley.
As he left high school, Buffalo wasn't the only school looking to offer Heine a scholarship.
'I looked at West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Eastern Michigan and Penn State,' Heine said 'I liked the team here the best, though.'
Unfortunately for Heine, his freshman season started a little late due to injury. He missed the first two months of the season, but didn't let that stop him from pushing himself to better his swimming. At the end of the 2008-09 campaign, he was named the team's most improved swimmer and Bashor expects to see the same, if not greater, improvement in his sophomore stud.
'I see huge progress from him because last year he spent the first two months of the season injured with a shoulder injury, so he wasn't really competing,' Bashor said.
With the season still young and the beard prevalent, Heine looks to continue on his success from last season and perhaps break a few more records this year. He has proven that he can do it with his team backing him up, as he has competed well in medleys. The next step is to dominate individual events, a task that both he and his coach see as very realistic.
And with the beard at full length, anything is possible.
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