Franklin graduate Ethan Pheifer is a mainstay for Ball State in the backstroke.
Submitted photo
Ethan Pheifer is proof that playing with pain applies to swimmers too.
The former Franklin freestyler and backstroker, a junior for Ball State’s men’s swimming and diving team, experiences varying degrees of lower back pain due to a medical condition he’s lived with since around the time he was in middle school.
“It’s been with ups and downs,” Pheifer said of his college career to date. “I was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, which is my L-5 and S-1 vertebra being shifted, so they’re out of place pretty much.
“It hurts when I swim. Hurts when I sleep. Hurts when I’m sitting in class.”
And yet Pheifer, who earned a total of 13 varsity letters over five different sports (football, cross country, soccer, swimming and track and field) while at Franklin, continues to push back the possibility of undergoing a spinal fusion surgery that would essentially delay his swimming career approximately three to six months.
“I’m just going to hold off for as long as I can,” Pheifer said. “It’s more of a motivation thing. I’ve done sports for 18 years, so I’m used to it and have learned to push through it.”
Pheifer’s father Jamie was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis when he was a freshman at Southport. Jamie Pheifer, now 51, later reinjured his back as a freshman tennis player at the University of Indianapolis, but says he’s since learned to live with the discomfort and achiness. He plans to undergo spinal fusion surgery within the next three to five years.
Ethan Pheifer majors in biochemistry, pre-med and biology, carrying a 3.79 grade-point average. His objective is to one day work as an anesthesiologist.
J. Agnew, the Cardinals’ men’s and women’s swim coach, appreciates the unwavering commitment Pheifer demonstrates in everything he does.
“The word I would use is tenacious. He has grit. He has passion. Ethan doesn’t have a pause button,” Agnew said. “He just wants to move forward all the time. Ethan is one of those guys where there’s no fluff. What you see is what you get.
“And you have to love competition, and not everybody does. But Ethan does. He competes at everything.”
Pheifer has plenty more ahead of him this season, starting with the Cardinals competing at Miami of Ohio on Friday and at the Butler Invitational in Fishers on Sunday. Ball State hosted only one competition this season, a victory over IUPUI in November.
A schedule heavy on road trips plays right into the junior’s wheelhouse. Ball State travels to the Mid-American Conference meet March 6-9 at Southern Illinois. Pheifer, whose career-best times are 20.63 seconds in the 50 freestyle, 46.40 in the 100 free and 49.50 in the 100 backstroke, is looking to podium and knows he’s capable.
“I would love to be in the top eight in every single event,” he said. “I’ve just got to make it out of prelims first, but that can be pretty tough. Mornings can be brutal, especially if you’re a night owl.”
Pheifer admits he is. Not always by choice.
