They met half a world away as teammates, but now they are together as athlete and coach.

Three years after competing as teammates in the 2006 World Championships in Naples, Italy, southern Illinois freshman swimmer Kirsten Groome and graduate assistant coach Brittany Massengale meet again.

Groome and Massengale said they were completely new to the experience of open water swimming when they swam freestyle in a race that was about 3 miles long and took an hour to complete. Both of them qualified in national competition before they could get to the world stage.

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Massengale came to SIU this year because swimming head coach Rick Walker was looking for another assistant coach.’

‘She is internally very confident, willing to work and she’s able to pick up on things that I might not see,’ Walker said.

Massengale said swimming for the U.S. was a surreal experience.

‘It didn’t hit me that I was swimming for my country until I saw Rick in front of the crowd holding this huge American flag,’ Massengale said. ‘I felt like my heart was going to stop. For a second I thought, ‘that is exactly what I am here for,’ [to represent my country].’

Both Groome and Massengale finished in the top ten for the U.S. in the 5k freestyle swim at Naples.

Walker was the coach of that World Championship team and has been involved with open water swimming for 22 years.

Groome and Massengale said Walker was a perfect coach for the world championship team.

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‘Rick is the kind of person who is going to take care of you,’ Massengale said. ‘If anything happens he steps up. I feel like being associated with him has made me a better person.’

Walker said the pair was great to coach, worked really hard and were excited about being given the chance to swim for their country.

‘You would have to be insane to pass up an opportunity to go compete for your country,’ Massengale said.