IRVINE Tom Shields sat comfortably in the shade after practice Monday and discussed his transition into adulthood in the same manner he navigates a butterfly event in the pool: with a smooth and effortless rhythm.
The former Edison and Cal swimmer is excited about his upcoming marriage in December.
He’s learning how to become a professional athlete.
And he’s feeling confident as he approaches this week’s Phillips 66 National Championships in Irvine, a critical U.S. selection meet in the journey toward the 2016 Olympics.
Shields, 23, is seeded fifth for the 200-meter butterfly on Wednesday, the opening day of the meet at the Woollett Aquatics Center. He is seeded second to Ryan Lochte for the 100 butterfly on Friday.
The competition and relationship pools are getting deeper, but Shields continues to glide along, picking up speed when needed.
“It’s just kind of happening,” he said of his maturity. “It’s cool.”
Transition has always been the popular catchphrase around Shields but for another reason. The U.S. swimming community has wondered the past few years if he could take his speed from the short-course pools or non-Olympic distances into the longer, 50-meter pools.
With an underwater streamline that rivals Michael Phelps’ below-the-surface speed, Shields has set American short-course meters records in the 50, 100 and 200 butterfly events the past two years. He also tied one of Phelps’ short-course yards American records.
But for Shields, the length of the pool isn’t the most important transition topic these days.
“The short-course (vs.) long-course thing is like way down on the list,” said Dave Durden, Shields’ coach with Cal Aquatics who also guided his NCAA career.
“It’s just the transition from being a collegiate student-athlete to being a professional athlete (that is more important), and I think that takes time to get comfortable with how to handle things, how to manage things. … He’s ever-evolving as a person. He gets married later this year, so that’s a big event in life as well.”
Shields met his fiancée, Gianna Tinetti, 22, in a Slavic history and language class at Cal. The couple got engaged in the spring and are planning a Dec. 14 wedding on Alameda Island in San Francisco Bay.
Shields said his fiancée is handling most of the wedding plans while he trains six days a week.
“God bless her for that,” he said. “I give her my yes’s and no’s. Ultimately, she’s doing a really good job and she’s really organized.”
One of his positive nods went to the inclusion of tacos on the reception menu. “That was my big push,” Shields said.
The wedding planning has pushed Shields’ mind away from focusing too intensely on his competition in the pool.
“It’s a good distraction,” he said. “I feel this is the least I’ve thought about swimming, which I think is good …”
The competition for Shields this week looks similar to the U.S. Olympic Trials of 2012, where he placed fourth in the 100 butterfly.
Lochte suffered a knee injury late last year but remains in the mix. Phelps, who is back from retirement, also is entered in the 100 butterfly and owns the fastest time by an American this year (51.67 seconds).
Shields tied Phelps in the 100 butterfly at the Grand Prix meet in Santa Clara earlier this summer. They clocked matching times of 52.11.
Shields’ entry time in the 100 fly is 51.65, his winning time from last summer’s U.S. Open in Irvine. The time tied him for eighth fastest in the world in 2013.
A few months after the U.S. Open, Shields signed with apparel company Arena.
While Shields is thrilled to be racing in his home waters this week, it’s clear that his mental approach might make the most difference. He can thank some of those adult transitions for that.
“I’m relaxing,” he said. “All the signs are there.”
