Kelly Chiffer ends swimming career at NU; shatters two pool records in one week

By Kyle Blaikie
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Eight-year-old Kelly Chiffer's problem with her new house in Glastonbury, Conn., was that it had no pool. Every house her family had lived in up until then had had a pool in the backyard, but this new house did not. Kelly, who loved to swim, was not to be deterred from her favorite pastime and was soon a frequent visitor at the community pool.

According to Chiffer, who is now a 21-year-old senior nursing student at Norwich University, it was her mother who first suggested that she join the swim team.

"I wasn't very good at first," Chiffer admits. "There were a lot of kids who were stronger swimmers than I was when I started."

But after attending "a ton of swimming camps though grade school," Chiffer says her ability as a swimmer slowly evolved.

"I was never very aggressively competitive at first," Chiffer said. "That only came later."

Chiffer's record while swimming for Norwich is proof enough of her competitiveness. In the four years Chiffer has swum for the team, she has set seven team records, including the 500, 1000, and 1650-yard individual freestyle.

On Jan 26, Chiffer shattered an 11-year old Norwich University pool record for the 1650-yard freestyle by 20 seconds, while swimming against competitors from Gordon College.

"She's a machine," according to Norwich swimming head coach Steve Looke, who was quoted in a university press release. "She just clicked it in and went."

The following Thursday, Jan 31, Chiffer struck again, breaking the pool record in the 200 yard breaststroke against St. Michael's.

"Knowing it's my last season, I want to go out on a good note," Chiffer said. "I feel very lucky and very happy with the way things are going. Every day I wake up and I can't believe everything what I have."

Kelly Chiffer came to Norwich after medical issues kept her from being accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

"There was a question of exercise-induced asthma on her health record - though she was never officially diagnosed," according to her father, Brian (in a university press release), who also swam in college at UCONN.

After her freshman year, Kelly received an Army ROTC scholarship and switched her major from political science to nursing. This was welcome news for Kelly's mother, Dale, a professional nurse, who said in a university press release that she looked forward to sharing a professional bond with her daughter.

"I'm just so proud that she's found something that she really loves," Dale said. "Now we're part of the same nursing sisterhood."

Kelly maintains a cumulative grade point average of 3.76 as a nursing student and even finds time for 12 hours of clinical at a local hospital.

"Everything that I do is so important to me," Chiffer said. "It's on the list of things that need to get done, and there is no way around it."

Kelly credits her personal development, dedication and competitiveness to the mentors she has had while attending Norwich.

"This school has changed me in so many ways," she said. "I have had great mentors and great influences in my life as a result of this school. There are a lot of people behind the scenes that support me and work with me. The people that are in my life are remarkable."

Other members of the small swim team cheer Kelly on during events. According to Kelly, this helps her when she is trying to break a record.

"When she is getting ready to swim, we will put one person at one end of the pool and someone else at the other end to cheer her on, keep her going, to speed her up," according to Laura Mangual, 22, a junior physical education major from Philadelphia, PA. "She has told us that it helps her out when she knows that there are people that care."

Kelly said finding friends like this at Norwich makes her think about what her life might have turned out like if she had gone somewhere else.

"A lot of people that go to Division I schools and swimming is what they do," she said. "They go to college to swim, and that's not what I wanted my focus of my college education to be."

According to Chiffer, she wanted to have "good time" swimming in college.

"She's a hard worker," Mangual said. "She's at the top of the team. We practice with the guys, and she beats all the guys. Her competition is the clock. I am really happy for her. It's her senior year, and everyone wants to have a successful senior year, and she is doing a really great job."

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