I first met Pete Seaver in the fall of 1960. He was a Bowdoin College classmate and fraternity brother (Zeta Psi). We even lived in the same dormitory (Appleton Hall) our freshman year. We’ve remained good friends ever since.
A few months ago, Pete sent me an essay about his experiences in Vietnam. I was impressed with his writing and encouraged him to write more essays about his life. Happily, he took me up on the suggestion, and I’ve been receiving copies of his writings every few weeks.
Two of his essays have revolved around swimming — not surprising, since Pete was an outstanding distance swimmer at Bowdoin. He broke several college records in his events. During his sophomore year, the Bowdoin swim team was undefeated, and Pete led the team to several victories, including a nail-biter over archrival Williams (49-48) before a delirious crowd at the old Curtis Pool. I still remember that meet. Undaunted by the passage of time, Pete continues to work out in the pool today at age 82, usually alongside much younger swimmers.
One of the pieces (“Senior Play Rehearsal”) concerned the day Pete was called out of a rehearsal for the senior play because he had a visitor outside the school. The visitor was Bob Miller, then the swimming coach at Bowdoin. Miller told Pete that they were “in the area” and wanted to stop by and say “hi” to Pete. They were “in the area” because Pete was a high school long distance superstar and the coach wanted to make a final pitch to his top prospect. It worked, and Pete chose Bowdoin.
Over 60 years later, Pete learned the rest of the story. He ran into Curt Tilton who was an upperclassman on the swim team. Pete mentioned the time that Bob Miller had made a surprise visit to his high school. Curt laughed and told them that he had driven Coach Miller down to Leominster that afternoon because the coach didn’t like to drive at night. He said that he and another swimmer had hidden behind a tree while Pete talked to the coach.
Pete sent the “Senior Play Rehearsal” piece to Curt who responded with a warm letter: “What a wonderful surprise to receive your letter. It brought back so many fond memories.
“I remember when Coach first asked me to go on that trip. I was excited because I saw it as a chance to meet a high school swimming star and tell you all about our Bowdoin team. But when the moment came to finally meet you, Coach had us hide! I say ‘us’ because there was another teammate with me, but after all these years, I can’t quite recall who it was.
“I’m so glad you chose Bowdoin, and I’ve always been one of your biggest fans. Every time you swam, I cheered for you and was proud to have you on my team.”
The second essay that concerned swimming gave a wonderful description of Charlie Butt, who became the head coach at the start of Pete’s sophomore year. Charlie had driven Pete down to the Portland Boys club to swim head-to-head against a top high school swimmer. Thanks to Charlie’s sage coaching, Pete won both the 200 and 400 freestyle events. Pete wrote of his thoughts after the races.
“It was my turn to be grateful and gracious. More than pride in turning in respectable times, I felt coach knew me better than I did. He took a risk. He counted on me. He made it feel like it was a cool way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Trust was born that afternoon between us. Great coaches in business and education for that matter observe strengths that in many cases they might not know they have. More importantly, they give those people the opportunity to show their talent and believe in themselves.
“The reward for this encounter was that ride home. Suddenly everything looked magical. The city of Portland seemed alive. Crossing the inlet on Route One in Yarmouth was enchanting. The early fall colors were the best ever. When I got out of the car, Charlie leaned across the front seat and said, ‘Good job, Peter Seaver.”
David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com