Issue link: http://tcnj.uberflip.com/i/1532430
7 Prairie WINTER 2025 MICHELLE GUSTAFSON WHEN TCNJ DIVING COACH ERIC BLEVINS left home in Virginia for college in the Midwest, he brought along a thick drawl that earned him the nickname "Country," and an unmistakable zest for life. A natural athlete who played football and wrestled in high school, Blevins could often be found doing backflips on the campus quad. His energy and agility caught the attention of a swimmer who suggested he join the dive team. He's driven not by a sense of competition but by the unexpected joy he discovered in pursuit of the perfect dive. Blevins was surprised — his skills at the time were strictly land-based — but also intrigued: How hard could it be? The answer (very, very hard) arrived a month later when he washed out of his first competition with dismal results. "I thought, 'Well, that's not going to happen again,'" he says. Blevins began skipping lunch to spend extra hours at the pool, his days soon defined by classes and chlorine. By season's end, he beat his nearest competitor by more than 100 points; by graduation, he'd twice been named a Division III All-American and collected a record-breaking eight conference titles for Grinnell College. He's driven not by a sense of competition — well, not only — but by the unexpected joy he discovered in pursuit of the perfect dive.