Henry DePhillips, Jr. P\u201982, \u201983, \u201988 \u2013 Tennis<\/strong><\/p>\n Henry DePhillips (right) with a Trinity College women’s tennis team<\/p><\/div>\n Vernon K. Krieble Professor of Chemistry, Emeritus, Henry DePhillips, Jr. P\u201982, \u201983, \u201988 is so dedicated to tennis that he keeps his racquets behind his office door and will hit the court at Ferris Athletic Center whenever somebody invites him to play. \u201cI\u2019m never without a racquet, and I\u2019m never without a pair of sneakers,\u201d DePhillips said.<\/p>\n When he was young, DePhillips went to a summer camp in New Hampshire. \u201cThat was where I learned just about every skill that I have in any sport,\u201d he said. After playing on his high school golf team, DePhillips played some tennis in college, but only casually. He continued to golf throughout graduate school, but after he got his job at Trinity in 1963, he found he had less time for golf as he became more involved with his work. \u201cI thought, \u2018I should play tennis, because I can play tennis at lunchtime,\u2019 \u201d DePhillips said. He got a group of players together on campus a few times a week and also joined a tennis team in his hometown of Wethersfield.<\/p>\n By 1982, the coach of the women\u2019s tennis team found out about his interest in tennis. \u201cShe asked if I would be her assistant,\u201d DePhillips said. \u201cI said, \u2018No, I\u2019m not going to be an assistant coach, but I will be an assistant to the coach.\u2019 I made that distinction so I didn\u2019t have to have a formal relationship with the Physical Education Department.\u201d<\/p>\n That arrangement continued for 23 years. \u201cI went down and worked out with the women,\u201d DePhillips said. \u201cIt was good for them, I hope, and it was good for me \u2013 it kept my game sharp.\u201d<\/p>\n By 2005, sports were becoming more formalized at Trinity, and the teams needed more assistance to stay competitive, so assistant coaches and faculty liaisons became commonplace. \u201cI was coming up to my late 60s and thought, \u2018Can I really stay up with these kids?\u2019 And the answer was, pretty much, no,\u201d DePhillips said.<\/p>\n But that didn\u2019t mark the end of DePhillips\u2019s long relationship with the sport. \u201cI started in a group in Wethersfield in the 1970s, and that group is still ongoing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe play at least every Saturday.\u201d He is also a member of a tennis club in Newington.<\/p>\n \u201cTennis has been a major part of my life. My kids play tennis, my wife plays tennis,\u201d DePhillips said. He even takes on challenges from students. \u201cNow that I\u2019m getting on in years, as they say, there aren\u2019t many students who can\u2019t beat me. But I\u2019m in it for the love of the game,\u201d he said. \u201cThe competition is great, but for me, it\u2019s just such a pleasure to be out there. I don\u2019t care whether I win 6-love or lose 6-love. It\u2019s all the same to me. All I want is to be able to say I tried my hardest and I did my best, and I had a really good time doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n DePhillips said he is \u201cmostly retired\u201d from teaching now but still pursues his work and research as a conservation scientist, preserving works of art. Over the years, he has found that there is a relationship between art and tennis. \u201cIt\u2019s the beauty of it,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat I find most satisfying in tennis is really the aesthetic aspects of it. To see a ball well struck is a thing of beauty in my mind. And when I\u2019m working on a sample from a Monet or something like that, I just love to see the beauty that the artist has put together in order to manufacture the piece that I am privileged to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n He has done research and taught courses in Rome, but DePhillips said he has not yet had the chance to play tennis in Italy, where they have red clay courts \u2013 like those on which he first learned to play at summer camp in New Hampshire. \u201cI could look at it as a bookend,\u201d he said, \u201cbut maybe I\u2019m not ready to bookend my life just yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott Gac \u2013 Ironman Triathlon<\/strong><\/p>\n After putting himself through graduate school as a professional musician, Gac realized he didn\u2019t have enough time to be both a professional musician and a professional historian. \u201cWhen I gave up being a musician, I started to take up running, and I really liked it,\u201d he said. He became a running coach but found himself injured often, and he began spending a lot of time in the pool or on a bike when recovering.<\/p>\n Gac competed in his first triathlon in the 2000 Pan American Championships, held in Cuba. \u201cI fell in love with the sport and never turned back,\u201d he said. As an amateur, he made the U.S. long-course national team in 2004, 2005, and 2006.<\/p>\n In 2008, feeling like he was running out of challenges, Gac completed his first Ironman race. \u201cThe run is always the hardest section,\u201d he said. \u201cBy then it\u2019s the hottest part of the day, you start to get tired. \u2026 You start grabbing ice every mile, running with ice in your left hand to cool the blood circulating closest to your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, Gac is considered an Ironman All-World Silver Athlete, ranked among the top 5 percent of Ironman competitors in the world in his age group. \u201cI\u2019ve been a USA Triathlon All-American many times over the years. I\u2019m probably going up to Gold, which is the top 3 percent,\u201d Gac said. He works with professional coaches in Massachusetts and has had a variety of sponsors over the years. His wife has completed many triathlons as well, but Gac said she refuses to do an Ironman race.<\/p>\n During his heaviest weeks of training, Gac can devote 25 hours or more to his sport. \u201cI\u2019ll get up early and get in the pool or go for a run,\u201d Gac said. \u201cI tend only to race Ironman distance in the summer, when my schedule is a little more flexible.\u201d Gac competed in Canada just before the semester began, and he is already signed up for two more Ironman races next year, in Texas and New York.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in the end it makes me a better colleague and teacher because I get out all my competitiveness in this realm. I can be more relaxed and just a nicer person because of it,\u201d Gac said. \u201cIt does provide a structure that helps me orient myself in my day. Things can\u2019t get away from me because there isn\u2019t enough time for things to get away.\u201d<\/p>\n Lucy Ferriss \u2013 Tennis<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI grew up playing tennis in the park with my sister and brother,\u201d Ferriss said. \u201cI had an aunt who played tennis quite fiercely. She was the only one who taught any of us.\u201d She still plays the \u201cold-fashioned\u201d way her Aunt Ruth taught her, with a large swing that uses up a lot of energy.<\/p>\n Ferriss dabbled in tennis a bit during her school years, but, she said, \u201cI was too skinny in high school and college to get onto any athletic team. I had no muscles.\u201d<\/p>\n When her older son was 9 and her younger son was 7, the older boy wanted to learn how to play tennis. \u201cI said, \u2018Okay, but if you get frustrated and throw your racquet, then we\u2019re going to stop,\u2019 \u201d Ferriss said. Inevitably, he soon threw the racquet down on the court. \u201cBut then his younger brother, who had been shagging balls, said, \u2018Mommy, I won\u2019t throw the racquet.\u2019 \u201d That son eventually became a nationally ranked United States Tennis Association (USTA) tennis player.<\/p>\n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t really afford a coach, so he wanted me to be his coach,\u201d Ferriss said. \u201cI spent probably four or five years just hitting with my kid, then he got too good for me.\u201d During that stretch of time, to her amazement, Ferriss\u2019s skills had also greatly improved. \u201cIn trying to coach him, as he got better and better, I had to keep up with him and keep hitting cross court to a specific spot. I had actually become a decent player,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Ferriss now plays tennis about three times a week. \u201cWhen I\u2019m here in Hartford, I live a mile from the Hartford Tennis Club, in West Hartford,\u201d she said. She also plays a lot in the Berkshires during the summer.<\/p>\n She also plays on three USTA teams out of Hartford, with skill ratings of 3.5. She plays doubles on a 55-and-over senior team and singles on an 18-and-over team, and she plays on a mixed doubles team. \u201cAlthough my 18-and-over team, where I play first singles, did not prevail in districts this year, my senior team, where I play first doubles, made it to the finals,\u201d Ferriss said.<\/p>\n For Ferriss, loving the competition does not mean obsessing over a record of wins and losses. \u201cI play tennis totally to de-stress,\u201d she said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s very Zen-like. Tennis is a very fast game, but if you actually stop to think what you want to do with this ball, you screw up.\u201d<\/p>\n That awareness of the need to not think too much about her play has led Ferriss to a personal tennis mantra. \u201cThere are only two thoughts I should really have: See the ball; hit the ball.\u201d She then trusts her body and her instincts to do the right thing. \u201cFor me, that\u2019s very meditative. None of my thoughts, my worries about work, or anything can enter my head. The ball keeps coming back. I find that very relaxing. I think I\u2019m pretty high-strung otherwise, but on the tennis court? Never.\u201d<\/p>\n Ferriss has found that a similar focus helps with her creative writing process. \u201cIf I\u2019m writing well, I\u2019m not anxious about where this is taking the story,\u201d she said. \u201cAll that\u2019s happening is that I\u2019m in whatever moment I\u2019m creating. It\u2019s absolutely the same sort of being present in the moment, not overthinking it or thinking too far ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Rob Walsh \u2013 Cycling<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first got into cycling, I never thought I\u2019d be racing,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cIt just evolved.\u201d About five years ago Walsh wanted a lifestyle change \u2013 motivated in part by a desire to be more active with his children \u2013 and took up cycling. \u201cI ended up losing 80 pounds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Two years ago, when his weekly group rides were no longer enough to satisfy him, Walsh decided to take his athletic pursuits to the next level by competing in road races. \u201cI had this level of fitness and this desire to compete, so I wanted to do something with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He now trains with a private coach and is on a racing team sponsored by Cycling Concepts in Glastonbury. \u201cWe identify our best chance to win and get that person to the front,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cCycling is all about using energy at the right time. It\u2019s not about using the most energy but about who puts it out at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n The road races in which Walsh competes feature courses that are generally between 60 and 100 miles long. He recently completed the Black Fly Challenge in Indian Lake, New York, which was his first mountain bike race. He won his age and experience category, beating the previous year\u2019s winning time by 16 minutes.<\/p>\n His favorite moment of the season came back in April, when he finished the Tour of the Battenkill in New York. \u201cIt\u2019s supposedly America\u2019s hardest one-day race,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cIt\u2019s probably the biggest pro-am race in America. About 2,500 people register for a very challenging 67-mile course. I finished in the top 50 percent, which, for my first time, is good. It is a very demanding, punishing course.\u201d<\/p>\n For Walsh, the challenge is a big part of the appeal. \u201cIt demands so much,\u201d he said. \u201cIt sounds clich\u00e9, but there\u2019s so much sacrifice. I have three kids, and the only time I can really train most of the year is about 5:30 in the morning, doing a two-hour session, sometimes in the pitch black, sometimes in the cold, in the rain. But by 7:30 you say, \u2018I just did that, and I feel great.\u2019 To take all that training and see how you do against other competitive athletes, it\u2019s a hell of a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Walsh also hits the trail with his family. \u201cWe will go out on the Air Line Trail, or we\u2019ll ride the Rails-to-Trails. \u2026 But the hardest thing is trying to enjoy it after training and competing all season.\u201d Still, Walsh said that his love for the sport keeps him getting back on the bike day after day, and he knows there\u2019s a lesson in that.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo or three years ago, I wasn\u2019t able to do this,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cI hope some of the dedication wears off on my children and that they see the determination and the commitment, whether they apply it to school or to a sport.\u201d<\/p>\n Borden Painter, Jr. \u201958, H\u201995 \u2013 Football<\/strong><\/p>\n Borden Painter, Jr. ’58, H’95 (bottom row, fifth from left) with Trinity College’s 1956-57 football team<\/p><\/div>\n Professor of History, Emeritus, Borden Painter, Jr. \u201958, H\u201995 may no longer be an active athlete, but he still loves to regale people with the story of the day he tackled former Cleveland Browns star Jim Brown when they were both playing football at Manhasset High School in New York.<\/p>\n \u200b\u201cThe Manhasset High School football team held a scrimmage late one afternoon in late October of 1951, my sophomore year,\u201d Painter said. \u201cAt quarter of 6, it was dark, since we had turned the clocks back, and we didn\u2019t have any artificial lighting.\u201d<\/p>\n Painter held the position of second-string center. \u201cI got away with it even though I weighed only 165 pounds,\u201d he said, \u201cbut that was not unusual in those days when high school linemen rarely came in over 200 pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n The second-stringers were playing defense against a formidable varsity squad led by fullback \u201cJimmy\u201d Brown. \u201cBrown had both speed and size, standing over 6 feet and even as a high school junior weighing in at about 195,\u201d Painter said. \u201cHe already had a reputation as a top athlete in football, track, baseball, basketball, and lacrosse, which was considered by some to be his best sport.<\/p>\n \u201cOn this particular play, the quarterback handed the ball off to Brown, who charged up the middle directly at me,\u201d Painter said. \u201cSomehow first-string center Bruce Medd failed to get me out of the way, and I encountered Brown and brought him down! Coach Ed Walsh immediately demoted Medd to our side of the ball and put me with the varsity for the remainder of the scrimmage.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, Painter gives as much credit to the darkness of the late hour as he does to his own athletic prowess. \u201cI got credit for tackling Jimmy Brown, but it could have been he tripped over me and never saw me,\u201d Painter said. \u201cMedd had failed to move me over, so there I was just groveling on the ground. I could see Brown coming, but I think he didn\u2019t see me.\u201d<\/p>\n The next year, Medd was knocked out early for the season, so Painter played first-string with Brown on Manhasset\u2019s undefeated 1952 team. \u201cThe next year we only lost one game, even with Brown gone off to Syracuse and fame as an All-American and then a record-setting career in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns,\u201d Painter said. \u201cWe all knew how great he was, but who knew he was going to go on to become a national football figure?\u201d<\/p>\n In 2002, Brown was named by Sporting News<\/em> as the greatest professional football player ever.<\/p>\n Painter \u2013 who joked that he will be remembered by historians as the man who once tackled Jim Brown \u2013 went on to play third-string guard for Trinity College for a few years. He graduated in 1958, became a member of the Trinity faculty in 1964, taught English and European history, and later served as the dean of the faculty and interim president before retiring in 2004.<\/p>\n Barry Schaller \u2013 Running, Swimming<\/strong><\/p>\n Schaller said he has always enjoyed physical games and sports, and he has learned to love how it feels to run. \u201cI did get attached to it and enjoyed the feel of it. I never mask my body\u2019s response by listening to news or music when I do any sports. I like to feel and experience it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t say that I\u2019m a natural runner by any means.\u201d<\/p>\n He has competed in hundreds of races over the course of 50 years. \u201cI probably did about four to five running races a year in my 30s, 40s, and 50s,\u201d Schaller said. \u201cI found that I developed joint pain in one knee, so I had to cut it back and be careful with that. But as I got over 60 and the competition dropped away, I began to win my age category.\u201d<\/p>\n When he was in his mid-60s, Schaller was talked into trying a minisprint triathlon. \u201cI got to enjoy it, so I probably did a dozen or a dozen and a half,\u201d he said. A bike accident in 2009 that left him with a shoulder injury convinced Schaller to give up cycling and focus more on swimming instead. \u201cMy wife and I swim in Long Island Sound every day in the summer, and I join the Y for the winter,\u201d he said. \u201cI enjoy the swimming even more than the running now.\u201d Most recently, Schaller has completed some obstacle races for charity organizations, and he hopes to do more this fall.<\/p>\n The leukemia diagnosis about five months ago came out of nowhere. \u201cIt was a routine blood test,\u201d Schaller said. \u201cI felt fine, maybe just a little tired.\u201d Dealing with the rare form of leukemia and its ongoing treatment has been a big adjustment. \u201cThe doctors encourage me to stay active, so I swim every day for 40 or 45 minutes with my wife,\u201d he said. \u201cI can run for 25 minutes, but it\u2019s not as much fun as before. My body doesn\u2019t respond to that the way it did.\u201d<\/p>\n Schaller now uses his exercise routines to boost his mood and build his strength. \u201cIt\u2019s uplifting. I definitely think it\u2019s a good element in getting better, but it\u2019s not a solution,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to give up vigorous exercise until I have to, if it comes to that. The better shape you\u2019re in, the better you can withstand both disease and treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n This summer, as he focused on his health, Schaller got a surprise from his Supreme Court and Appellate Court colleagues: the trophy for the annual softball game between the courts will now be called The Schaller Cup, in honor of his long history of supporting the game and participating in it as a member of both courts.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cup came as a big surprise to me,\u201d Schaller said. \u201cI was very impressed with that. I\u2019ve been playing in that game and have helped organize it for 25 years.\u201d<\/p>\n Athletics will always be part of Schaller\u2019s personal regimen and something that brings him joy. \u201cI\u2019ve stopped playing tennis and stopped competitive sports,\u201d he said. \u201cNow I\u2019m in a race wherein I\u2019m just competing with my body to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is much more going on in the lives of Trinity College\u2019s high-achieving scholars, teachers, and staff members than what students and colleagues see in the office or the classroom. These men and women are also athletes whose physical feats include everything from years of casual tennis to grueling 140.6-mile Ironman Triathlons. Below, some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1424,"featured_media":832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[220,11,248,234,35,232,51,249,247,34,13,246,219,226],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":833,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825\/revisions\/833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"DePhillips1\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/files\/2015\/10\/DePhillips1-300x188.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Gac3\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/files\/2015\/10\/Gac3-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Scott Gac<\/a>, associate professor of history and American studies, as well as undergraduate and graduate director of American studies, believes that being an athlete gives him more endurance to teach courses at Trinity College. And after completing more than a dozen 140.6-mile Ironman Triathlons, Gac knows a thing or two about endurance. The notoriously challenging Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride, and a marathon 26.2-mile run, completed in that order without any breaks in between.<\/p>\n![\"Ferriss3\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/files\/2015\/10\/Ferriss3-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Trinity College writer-in-residence Lucy Ferriss<\/a> never intended to become so skilled at tennis, but her family has helped shape her into a player with a mean spin and a Zen-like philosophy.<\/p>\n![\"Walshathlete1\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/files\/2015\/10\/Walshathlete1-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Social sciences librarian Rob Walsh<\/a> was not competitive as a kid and wasn\u2019t very good at sports. Today, he\u2019s a bicycle racer who competes in events held by USA Cycling across the region.<\/p>\n![\"Painter2\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/files\/2015\/10\/Painter2-300x159.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Schaller1\"](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/files\/2015\/10\/Schaller1-196x300.jpg\")
<\/a>After playing many different sports in neighborhood sandlots, recreation departments, high school, and college, the Honorable Barry Schaller <\/a>\u2013 a visiting lecturer in public policy and law at Trinity College \u2013 took up running later in life as a way to stay in shape. The Connecticut Appellate Court judge said, \u201cI realized as I began to have children, I wanted to be in shape so I could do things with them, so I got into running. It was the easiest way to get in shape.\u201d Today, Schaller is turning to exercise to help him stay strong following a shocking diagnosis of leukemia.<\/p>\n