The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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34 ■ THE WOLFPACKER "You look back at that like, 'Why did I do that?'" Fox joked. "When you're in that mo- ment, you just do it because your teammates are doing it. You have team goals; you have individual goals. You're trying to do better. "I would get up every morning, and I would sit on the end of my bed and think of 10 reasons why I should get back in bed. A hundred percent of the time I got up and went, and it's because I didn't want to be standing on that block at the end of that season thinking about the things I should have done." Each year in high school, Fox's perfor- mance and confidence grew. He went from being the fourth person on the relay team at Sanderson his freshman year to being a dominant swimmer in his main events as a junior. While Fox was a good butterfly swimmer, the freestyle sprints were his forte, and he became a priority recruit for high-profile college swimming programs. He took offi- cial visits to Virginia, Florida, Texas and NC State, and also took unofficial trips to UNC. Ultimately, his choices were narrowed down to Texas, the dominant team in the sport, and NC State, his childhood dream school. "Having that love for NC State is what ultimately tipped the scales," Fox remem- bered. Team And Individual Success At NC State Close followers of NC State athletics know that under head coach Braden Hol- loway, the Wolfpack swimming program for both men and women has become a dominant force not just in the ACC, but nationally. The men's program won six consecutive conference titles from 2015-20 before fin- ishing second last year, and from 2016-19 it was fourth each year at the NCAA meet. The women have won two league titles since Holloway took over in 2011-12, and last spring they were second behind Vir- ginia at both the conference championship and NCAA meet. Prior to Holloway leading the men to a title in 2015, the Wolfpack's last ACC championship in either men's or women's swimming came in 1992, Fox's junior year and a moment that he still remembers. "That was important to all of us," Fox said. "When you're not used to winning — like we weren't at the time — and then you win, I think it means more. Virginia was the favorite going in, and we were really good. "We beat them by a very narrow margin. It took every kid on the team." It was not always roses for Fox, though. His father's sudden passing the year before he arrived at NC State sapped some of his motivation. Fox described his freshman season as "a tough year." He had help, though. Fox still keeps a box of letters that Don Easterling, NC State's legendary former swimming coach, gave him over the years, calling Easterling "a master motivator." Each year, Fox progressed. But in the midst of a compressed 1992 schedule that included the ACC and NCAA meets and Olympic Trials, he underachieved at the college nationals. He missed the finals in the 50-yard freestyle, his trademark race. His senior year, Fox became a self-de- scribed machine in practice and reached an all-time high in confidence. The NCAA finals in Indianapolis in 1993 were the fastest in history at the time. Every swimmer went under 20 seconds in the race, a first. Fox beat UCLA's Brian Kurza, whose time would have won the 1992 race by three-tenths of a second. Fox recalled the jubilation he felt when he saw his time — 19.14 seconds. It broke the NCAA record previously held by Matt Biondi, who set a world record in the 50-meter free at the 1988 Olympics and by 1993 had 11 medals, including eight golds, in his trophy case. In the men's record book at NC State, Fox's time still ranks seventh in the 50 free. Yet it's the team title in 1992 that he remembers most fondly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox and his family — from left to right: Hannah (18), Jerry (16), Fox and his wife Richelle, Abigail (14) and Dylan (10) — moved back to Raleigh from Dallas, where he is still based for work. He said: "I have a responsibility to my firm, and I am taking care of that responsibility. But I also have one to my family, and they are where they want to be and are happy." PHOTO COURTESY DAVID FOX DAVID FOX Swimming (1990-93) Age: 50 Living: Dallas and Raleigh Occupation: Partner at Goldman Sachs Did You Know? Fox is one of four former NC State swimmers to be part of a gold-medal- winning relay team for the U.S. at the Olympics, joining Steve Rerych (1968), Cullen Jones (2008) and Ryan Held (2016).