Not many people can say they have a day dedicated in their honor by their hometown, but for Springfield native and Olympic swimmer Ryan Held, his day was declared March 18, 2014.
“I didn’t know it was my own day until 7:30 that night,” Held said.
Held’s high school principal at Sacred Heart Griffin notified him that the mayor of Springfield, J. Michael Houston had something important to tell Held at the city council meeting later that night.
“[The] first half of business was usual and the Mayor Mike Houston kind of stopped [the meeting] and said ‘Before we continue, we have a very special award to give out to one of our local athletes. Would you please come forward,’” Held said. “They presented me with the proclamation for academic and athletic achievement and he kind of just read the proclamation and said congrats and I gave a little thank you speech.”
Even though Held couldn’t celebrate all of March 18, he said that day is pretty much a Held family holiday.
“There was no time to get a cake or something,” Held said. “If I would have known it was my holiday I would have skipped practice and got ice cream but no,” Held said.
Held is certainly deserving of his own day after being named Illinois State Swimmer of the Year in 2014. He also broke two state records in the 1500m freestyle.
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“[The proclamation of that day] was my little first glimpse of stardom,” Held said.
Swimming for Held began when he was about 6 years old and his parents signed him up for the sport his brother was already involved in.
“I originally started swimming because my brother got into swimming and it was easier for my parents to have both kids at one place,” Held said.
Held instead focused his attention to other sports like soccer and baseball growing up.
“Swimming was actually kind of at the bottom of the totem pole of importance to me,” Held said.
Up until about 7th grade, Held could no longer play soccer or baseball because he broke his leg.
“My mom wouldn’t let me be a couch potato so I had to choose something,” Held said.
To this day, Held is inseparable with swimming and absolutely loves it.
“I love the racing,” Held said. “I love racing anybody and everybody.”
Held said his favorite days of practice are Friday’s because that’s when him and his teammates swim fast and he gets to race. Luckily for him, he’ll be doing just that at the Rio Games.
“This will be my first international meet so I’m really excited to race against other countries,” Held said.
His dedication and hard work has paid off as he prepares for his first Olympic games.
“It’s anyone’s game if you just believe in yourself and work toward your goals,” Held said.
