If SIUC senior Nathan Stooke had one wish, it would be to have a never-ending swim.

Just like you can ride your bike or run anywhere, I always wanted to get into the pool and swim forever, Stooke said.

Stooke may never live his swimming bliss, but he has seen what appeared to be an endless race. Saluki swimmers Stooke and junior Liam Weseloh competed in the 25K Open Water World Championships in Perth, Australia, Jan. 11.

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Stooke had never competed in a 25K race, only having one month to prepare for the National Championships. But Stooke finished a surprising second place in the National Championships to qualify for Australia.

In pool competitions, you can see the end of the race, said Stooke. The open water competitions seem to last forever.

Weseloh, a native of Toronto, qualified for the World Championships by finishing second among Canadian swimmers in the Pan Pacific Games. Unlike Stooke, Weseloh had competed in four 25K races prior to the World Championships.

Stooke looked to the experienced Weseloh and SIUC/USA National Coach Rick Walker for advice. The biggest challenge that Stooke would face was not only physical but mental.

A 25K open swim is the marathon of swimming. The rigors of swimming 25K (about 15 1/2 miles) is often compared to running 46 miles, or almost twice as long as a marathon.

The struggles of swimming long distances is not only physical, but mostly mental. Throughout the swim, every swimmer will typically face four to five mental walls. When the swimmer faces a wall, the urge to quit is at its highest.

Whenever Stooke faces his walls, he names them. Personifying his walls, he invites them along for the swim. Accepting the walls allows him to conquer each as they come and go.

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The toughest wall I ever faced, I named it Lorena Bobbit, said Stooke. It didn’t feel too good.

Weseloh, recently voted to the MVC Swimmers of the Week list, does not believe in naming his walls. He chooses a more simple approach.

I just get mad at my walls, Weseloh said. Then I just swim faster.

Stooke believes that he successfully conquered his walls in Australia with a 13th place finish for the United States with a time of 5:32:20.8. Weseloh, hoping for a top five finish, was disappointed with finishing 15th for Canada with a time of 5:34:53.3.

Weseloh and Stooke will lead both SIUC teams into this weekend’s Illini Classic. The Salukis and coach Rick Walker are entering the meet with a no-pressure attitude.

Our focus is to take the pressure of winning off the swimmers, Walker said. Hopefully, with a little less pressure we can see how they respond.

The SIUC men’s and women’s swimming teams travel to Champaign to compete in the Illini Classic Invitational Friday and Saturday.