One @ Marquette: Brian Hansen
Brian Hansen is no ordinary Marquette student. At first glance, he may seem like just another face in the crowd, just another person going to the Marquette hockey games and just another student taking notes in class, but in reality, he juggles his daily life with his life as an Olympic speed skater.
Hansen won a silver medal in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic games in team pursuit, which is a form of speed skating where teams of three skaters make a total of eight laps around a track and race against another team of three at the same time. Hansen took a year off between high school and college in order to train, and he balanced his freshman year with competitive speed skating.
Training is intense, and Hansen spends almost ten hours a day at the Pettit National Ice Center skating, which made it difficult for him to juggle his athletic life with his academic one at Marquette during his first two years as a college student.
“In order to be competitive, I have to travel internationally about nine times during the school year, not including how much I travel within the United States,” said Hansen. "That's why I'm taking a leave of absence until after the 2014 Olympics. I want to be able to focus fully on my studies."
Hansen’s choice to take time off from school was not easily made.
“I wouldn’t take time off if I didn’t have to,” said Hansen. “I tried the whole training thing while taking classes, and it was really difficult to keep up with everything, especially since I have to travel a lot.”
Last year, Hansen travelled to Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Brazil, and the Netherlands twice, all while taking classes at Marquette. Marquette has allowed him to take a leave of absence this year to focus on his training.
“Marquette means a lot to me,” said Hansen, “I try to stay as involved as possible on campus, even though I am on leave to train.”
For Hansen, being involved in the Marquette community means supporting the presence of other on-ice sports at Marquette, such as hockey and figure skating.
“I go to as many games as I can,” said Hansen. “I spend a lot of time as an athlete, but I love being in the stands too.”
Hansen spends most of his days on a strict training schedule given to him by his coach of twelve years, Nancy Swider-Peltz. Swider-Peltz's daughter, Nancy Jr, and son Jeff also train with Hansen at the Pettit Ice Center, though neither of them are enrolled in college.
“Training with Nancy, Nancy Jr, and Jeff is fun,” Hansen said. “We all started out together in Glenview, Illinois, and we used to commute to the Pettit in Milwaukee everyday while we were in high school.”
The training team was forced to commute to Milwaukee on a daily basis because the Pettit is one of only two ice arenas in the United States with a long track ice rink, which means that competitive speed skaters can only train in Milwaukee or Salt Lake City.
“We didn’t want to go to Salt Lake City,” said Hansen. “We are really the only competitive speed skaters in Milwaukee right now, though, with the exception of one or two others. Most go to Salt Lake City, but we wanted to stay closer to home, and we like Milwaukee.”
Despite wanting to stay in Milwaukee, Hansen ended up spending almost four weeks in Salt Lake City last year in order to attend smaller competitions in preparation for the World Speed Skating Championships.
“I had to go [to Salt Lake] a lot last year, yeah, but I’ve always come back to Milwaukee, and I’ll always come back to Marquette.”
Hansen won a silver medal in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic games in team pursuit, which is a form of speed skating where teams of three skaters make a total of eight laps around a track and race against another team of three at the same time. Hansen took a year off between high school and college in order to train, and he balanced his freshman year with competitive speed skating.
Training is intense, and Hansen spends almost ten hours a day at the Pettit National Ice Center skating, which made it difficult for him to juggle his athletic life with his academic one at Marquette during his first two years as a college student.
“In order to be competitive, I have to travel internationally about nine times during the school year, not including how much I travel within the United States,” said Hansen. "That's why I'm taking a leave of absence until after the 2014 Olympics. I want to be able to focus fully on my studies."
Hansen’s choice to take time off from school was not easily made.
“I wouldn’t take time off if I didn’t have to,” said Hansen. “I tried the whole training thing while taking classes, and it was really difficult to keep up with everything, especially since I have to travel a lot.”
Last year, Hansen travelled to Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Brazil, and the Netherlands twice, all while taking classes at Marquette. Marquette has allowed him to take a leave of absence this year to focus on his training.
“Marquette means a lot to me,” said Hansen, “I try to stay as involved as possible on campus, even though I am on leave to train.”
For Hansen, being involved in the Marquette community means supporting the presence of other on-ice sports at Marquette, such as hockey and figure skating.
“I go to as many games as I can,” said Hansen. “I spend a lot of time as an athlete, but I love being in the stands too.”
Hansen spends most of his days on a strict training schedule given to him by his coach of twelve years, Nancy Swider-Peltz. Swider-Peltz's daughter, Nancy Jr, and son Jeff also train with Hansen at the Pettit Ice Center, though neither of them are enrolled in college.
“Training with Nancy, Nancy Jr, and Jeff is fun,” Hansen said. “We all started out together in Glenview, Illinois, and we used to commute to the Pettit in Milwaukee everyday while we were in high school.”
The training team was forced to commute to Milwaukee on a daily basis because the Pettit is one of only two ice arenas in the United States with a long track ice rink, which means that competitive speed skaters can only train in Milwaukee or Salt Lake City.
“We didn’t want to go to Salt Lake City,” said Hansen. “We are really the only competitive speed skaters in Milwaukee right now, though, with the exception of one or two others. Most go to Salt Lake City, but we wanted to stay closer to home, and we like Milwaukee.”
Despite wanting to stay in Milwaukee, Hansen ended up spending almost four weeks in Salt Lake City last year in order to attend smaller competitions in preparation for the World Speed Skating Championships.
“I had to go [to Salt Lake] a lot last year, yeah, but I’ve always come back to Milwaukee, and I’ll always come back to Marquette.”
