Climbing the stairs to the second floor of Olin Hall wearing a backpack, khaki pants and a long sleeve button-up shirt, William Groves exudes the aura of a college professor. But just as in the case of Clark Kent, another identity lurks beneath his business attire.
When he is not teaching CORE 2428: How Today’s Athletes Obtain the Cutting Edge, Groves is preparing to represent the United States as a free-style wrestler at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens.
“Athens will be my first trip to the Olympics and I am very excited,” Groves said.
Groves, now 28, is well experienced after having wrestled for 18 years.
He will wrestle free-style in Athens, which differs from Greco-Roman style in that holds are permitted on the whole body instead of just from the waist up.
Groves’ said that contrary to many beliefs, his childhood was not filled with hours of wrestling.
“I would say that not very much of my time was spent wrestling,” Groves said.
“My parents felt it was very important not to burn out too early. As a youth I traveled for wrestling five to six times a year only to major tournaments.”
After growing up in Chicago and moving to London, where he went to boarding school for five years, Groves returned to attend Iowa State University where he wrestled.
“In college I wrestled and did school work, but that was pretty much it,” Groves said. “Every now and again I would go out, but it was pretty rare.”
After completing his undergraduate studies, Groves decided to go for his Ph.D at Ohio State University.
With the support of his parents, he did not give up wrestling.
“My parents were very instrumental in my development both academically and athletically,” he said.
“They expressed the importance of doing my best no matter what the outcome.”
While that is a feat in itself, what is even more impressive is that Groves started attending Iowa State at the age of 16 and graduated at the age of 21.
But he does not feel like he missed a beat by attending college at an early age.
“I feel like it gave me a great edge over my friends, and it is why I am still able to compete in wrestling today,” he said.
“It was challenging from a physical aspect, but all else fell into place rather quickly.”
Groves now lives in Colorado Springs where he trains at the Olympic Training Center (OTC).
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, he begins his day at 5 a.m. with running and watching videos. He then hits the mat from 9 to 11 a.m. and again from 3 to 5 p.m. for wrestling practice. He completes his day with a run at 8 that night.
On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, he starts the day in the same fashion, but holds wrestling practice between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Groves has to face I-25 traffic to arrive at his CORE class by 2 p.m., which is just as challenging as his training.
Class ends at 3:30 p.m. and by 5 p.m. Groves is back in Colorado Springs for one hour of weight training.
After another run at eight, he calls it a day.
Sundays are reserved only for the purpose of watching videos.
With a full schedule of activities, Groves admits that many athletes do not have time for a night on the town.
“You would be surprised how focused all the athletes are,” he said. “There is really not a lot of time for going out. Every now and again people go out, but not often.”
Although many other athletes (including teammates) follow strict diets, Groves does not have the pressure of having to watch what he eats.
“I am in a unique position – I don’t cut weight,” he said. “Most of my teammates cut a fair amount of weight so their diets are very specific and structured. They watch what they eat and when.”
After the Olympic Games, Groves does not plan to stop training.
“My training will change a bit but not much,” he said.
“I will focus on the 2005 World Championships. I will possibly take one month off to go to Japan to visit friends.”
He also plans to spend a little time outside in the mountains.
“In the off season, I do a lot of mountain climbing,” he said.
“My last climb was one year ago at Elbrus in the Caucus Mountains.”
As for the CORE class, this is the first year it has been offered at DU and Groves hopes it will not be the last.
“We are currently working on having the course offered again in the fall,” he said. “What I would like to change is to have course enrollment increased to 100 students, or have it offered a couple of quarters in a row.”
The course covers aspects of Olympic athletes, from performance enhancers to mental focus. There are also guest speakers that Groves invites from the OTC.
So far, Olympic Style Weightlifter Cara Lane and three-time U.S. Judo national champion Rhadi Ferguson have taken time from their busy schedules to lecture. A field trip to the OTC is also scheduled for the end of the quarter.
Anyone interested in this CORE course may contact Groves at wgroves@du.edu. The wrestling portion of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens will be held at the Ano Liossia Olympic Hall from August 22 to August 29.
