University of Tennessee Athletics
VOL SWIMMER MAKES CHILDREN SMILE, ONE PATIENT AT A TIME
April 27, 2007 | Men's Swimming & Diving
April 27, 2007
By Jennifer Edwards
Senior Brad Boswell started swimming when he was only five years-old simply because he wanted to be able to swim better than his sister. Because his sister did not swim in college, Boswell was the first in the family to go on official college recruiting visits, and he took them all very seriously. When it came time to make a decision, he knew Tennessee would be the best choice.
"It really came down to the coaching," Boswell explained. "My coach back home was sort of like a second father to me. [Coach] JT (John Trembley) is a little bit sterner than a second father, but I knew that he would care about me more than just a swimmer and more about other aspects of my life."
As a student at an inner-city high school, Boswell served as class president for his peers. In an attempt to bring the class together, he aimed to have at least one community service project in which everyone could participate. It was there that his passion for giving back to the community began.
His enthusiasm for helping others carried over into his freshman year of college, when he began volunteering at the Children's Hospital of Knoxville.
"I had to ride my bike there from Gibbs Hall," Boswell laughed. "It was kind of meant to be, because the only time they had available was Sundays. And that's really the only time I can volunteer, because I'm studying, competing, or training every other day."
At the Children's Hospital, Boswell volunteers in the Child Life program.
"Our main mission is to provide playing opportunities for the kids, whether we are with them or not," Boswell explained. "It can include giving them crafts but it can also include playing board games with them or just watching a movie with them so that they're not lonely."
Not everything is fun and games for the volunteers. The dirty part, Boswell claims, is making sure the toys are disinfected since some of the children have contagious illnesses.
Since Boswell works only once a week at the hospital, he has not been able to form tight relationships with the children. But one eight year-old named Peyton left an impression on the swimmer he won't soon forget.
"One day I came into his room and usually you have to give the kids ideas of what they want to do like 'Do you want to play? Do you want to do crafts?'," Boswell explained. "So I asked him what he wanted to do and he said 'I'll have 50 popsicle sticks and some glue, please.' So, I went and got them for him. I gave them to him and then he told me to leave. So I did."
A while later, Boswell returned to check on the patient. Instead of making a popsicle house, Peyton had designed and glued together a 3-D structure that read "Brad."
"He had read my name off my name tag," Boswell smiled. "Unfortunately he wouldn't give it to me. I told him I wanted it, that's my name! But it was really cool."
Boswell has also gotten involved in opportunities offered to student-athletes through Tennessee's Thornton Athletic Student Life Center.
"Just reading to kids that adore you," Boswell said. "It's like you didn't do anything to deserve it, but they just like you because you're an athlete. Why not? It's been kind of easy to find opportunities."
As captain of the swim team, Boswell knows that his teammates have a lot on their plates.
"I'm really not trying to set a standard," he said. "I'm doing this more for my enjoyment. I know a lot of guys on the team are busy and have their fingers in other projects as well."
However, it's clear that everyone on the team strives to help the community at least twice a year.
"We do something around Christmas time and then we show up for April Play Day, which is a university-wide event where a thousand kids from different community centers are invited to play with the student-athletes," Boswell stated.
This past Christmas, the team purchased gifts for the Toys for Tots campaign.
"It's shocking to see what they wanted because it's so petty," he said. "We thought, 'Why the heck not?' It's just a pair of jeans and a board game. We don't take a hit, but the kid is really satisfied."
For the past three years, Boswell was part of the SEC Good Works team. This year brought a new honor as the swimmer received the 2006-2007 Brad Davis Southeastern Conference Community Service Post-Graduate Scholarship.
"It's a really great honor, but I'm not doing it for the credit," Boswell proclaimed.
The senior claims that without the tight-knit community in Knoxville, he would not be as motivated to get involved.
"I think what got me so inclined to do community service in college is that the community here is amazing," Boswell said. "The support you get is outstanding and better than any other school I visited. This is sort of my way of giving back to a community that supports us so much."
