BLACKSBURG – Robert Owen’s summer certainly has lacked entertainment value.

He spent roughly 10 days at his Massachusetts home following the spring semester before hustling back to Blacksburg to take a Statics class during the first summer school session. Now he’s in the throes of a Multivariable Calculus class in this second summer session. Not to mention, he’s training six days a week at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.

That’s not exactly exciting stuff. But when you’re a rising star on Virginia Tech’s swimming team, you tend to be concerned about more than beaches and hanging out with friends.

Owen is wrapping up preparations for the U.S. National Championships held in San Antonio next week, hoping that a strong performance there serves as a precursor to a big junior season. A year ago, he finished ninth in the 200 backstroke at the event, which was held in Irvine, California, and that ultimately propelled him to an outstanding sophomore season.

“I obviously had another year of training, and that helped,” Owen said of his strong sophomore season. “But the big thing was that I was more confident as a sophomore than I was as a freshman. As a freshman, I’d go into meets and I’d be a little nervous, but last year, I had more confidence.”

Owen burst onto the scene last year by winning a gold medal at the ACC Championships and earning honorable mention All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. His gold in the 400 individual medley at the ACC Championships was one of just two gold medals for the Hokies, who finished third at the meet.

He won in thrilling fashion, too, as he and second-place finisher Christian McCurdy of NC State were dead even through the final 100 yards. Owen stretched to take gold by 0.13 seconds with an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 3:41.78. He broke his own school record by two seconds.

“I wouldn’t say I thought I’d win,” Owen said. “But I thought I’d be close to it. I was going to fight for it. He [McCurdy] was in the lane beside me, and I knew it was close.”

At the NCAAs, Owen didn’t make the finals of the 400 IM or the 200 backstroke, but he finished 10^th in the 400 IM and 14^th in the 200 backstroke, respectively, earning honorable mention All-America honors in both. He scored 10 of the Hokies’ 17 team points.

“As a freshman, I made the NCAAs, so I had a goal to make it again,” Owen said. “I really wanted to make the final session. The previous year, I didn’t score any points, so I just wanted to go out and score and see where I’d place. I was pretty happy with my performance.”

“He’s still growing,” Tech coach Ned Skinner said shortly after the NCAA Championships. “He’s still hitting the weights. He’s really, really talented. He has an incredible feel for the water. He did finish ninth last summer at the U.S. summer nationals, so he’s emerging at the national level. We see it coming. But to go there [to the NCAAs] and score 10 of our 17 points is outstanding.”

Those performances have him wanting to do more this upcoming season. That’s why he kicked aside any thoughts of vacations and relaxation and returned to Blacksburg. He expects the additional training to pay off, and the two summer school courses allow him to get ahead in his pursuit of a mechanical engineering degree and allow for a little more flexibility in training this fall.

“Coach [Ned] Skinner is always saying that, if you work hard in the summer, you’re setting yourself up for a good fall,” Owen said. “I’ve been here the whole summer, training and taking classes. Last summer, I stayed at home and trained with my club team, but by staying here this summer, I think my training is the best it can possibly be. I have more people to train with, and it’s definitely more competitive.”

Owen’s goals are set – to win another gold medal at the ACC Championships and to be an All-American, which means placing in the top eight of his events. He’s putting in the work now. He’s expecting the reward to come a little later.

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