Spencer Martin Tribute Swim in Pool #800

9 June 2026

This is a facility that I've wanted to visit for years ... really for decades, probably going back to my freshman year at the University of Texas when I first met Spencer Martin:

J. Spencer Martin circa 1987/1988

Spencer was a year ahead of me and he took many of us first-year members of the men's swimming team under his wing. Though he and I never actually trained together - he was a breaststroker and sprint IMer, me stuck over in the distance lanes - he taught me and my teammates so much on so many topics (largely outside the pool), I'll be forever in his debt.

• He was undoubtedly the smartest person I ever met and he shared his broad intellect freely with all of us, dedicating time as an unofficial tutor to pretty much anyone who would ask for his help. Even in his early 20s, he was a natural, patient teacher who guided us to learn, rather than just telling us the answer. It never surprised me that, years later, when our paths crossed again in Arizona during his tenure as a Finance/Business prof at ASU, he received student-led recognition as an excellent educator.

• He was passionate about music and became a guru of sorts for my own musical education - exposing me to his wide, eclectic and excellent tastes. He pushed me out of my high school punk infatuation and into deep indie cuts ranging from dance music to quirky pop to atmospheric instrumentals and so much more.

• For a guy who was, I think, rather shy, Spencer was a master networker and connector of people ... but on Adam Grant's (not yet then published) Give and Take spectrum, Spencer was all the way a Giver. In the pre-email early 1990s after we had graduated and many of us scattered from Austin, Spencer was the driver to keep the extended Texas Swimming alumni connected.

• Above all else, he was a person who chose kindness. His calm and his gentle approach to people brought serenity, not drama.

Spencer passed away too young back in 2019 and I wasn't able to attend a (delayed due to COVID) celebration of life ceremony in Austin in 2021 . When I realized that the Wilton YMCA, where Spencer grew up swimming, was near enough for me to get to before meetings in Ridgefield today, I made the trip this morning, diving in at 6am.

I was really going to be happy just to be here and to think about Spencer as I swam. To thank him for all he did for me.

But, I got so much more.

I was splitting a lane for my planned 1,000 meters of warmup sets and had gotten through my 400 IM kick-drill and the first of my 4 x 100 on 1:40 gentle descend freestyle, when I felt a splash from the lane next to me, and a guy saying, "Hey, do you want to join us?"

I looked over and there were four, fit-looking Masters swimmers, at least one of them appearing to be about my age who introduced himself as Brad.

He said something like, "Hey, it's no fun swimming alone. How's a 1:30 to 1:35 interval? We're going 3 x 250 - 3 x 150 - 4 x 50, then 2 x 250 - 2 x 150 - 4 x 50." There was a bit more nuance to the set, and it was far more interesting than the 10 x 200 I had unimaginatively planned.

After we finished, Brad and I talked a bit more and - oh! what a small world it became - as he had grown up here swimming with Spencer ... and he attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas the exact same years as I was in Austin. So, in addition to reminiscing about Spencer, he also brought up some names from my swimming past that called up even more fond memories.

This was pool #800 and my first-ever pool swum in Connecticut.

I am a better person because I knew Spencer. And it was a better day because Brad, by inviting me to join his crew, chose the same kind of interest in others and kindness I recall Spencer bringing to life.

RIP, Spencer.