Hall of Fame
Arriving without warning and enduring a brief hiatus, Roger Kiekhofer’s career as a collegiate student-athlete wound up becoming a main contributing factor to the most prosperous period in the history ofthe North Central College men’s swimming program.
Despite having not participated in athletics at the high-school level, Kiekhofer nevertheless caught theeye of the recently-graduated John Molitor ’60, who had just finished his own distinguished swimmingcareer and would take over as the Cardinals’ head coach that fall.
“I was a lifeguard at a pool in Milwaukee, and John was my head lifeguard,” Kiekhofer said. “He askedme where I was going to college, and I said I hadn’t really made any plans. He said, ‘how would you liketo take a look at going to North Central College?’ And I said, ‘sure.’”
It soon became apparent that expectations for the swimming team would be high, as three members ofthe team had recently returned from the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Italy. The most significantimpression on Kiekhofer was made by Dick Blick ’62, who returned to campus with a gold medal.
“I remember being so enamored with that gold medal,” Kiekhofer said. “Unknown to Dick, I always triedto position myself close to him in practice because I wanted to see if I could swim as fast as he could.”
Kiekhofer’s first competitive experience on the national level came as a sophomore in the 1962 NAIANational Championships in Detroit. He swam on North Central’s first-place 400-yard freestyle relay teamand placed third in the 50-yard freestyle as the Cardinals won the second of three straight NAIA nationaltitles.
As a junior in 1963, he won individual national championships in the 100-yard freestyle and 400-yardmedley relay, helping lead North Central to the top of the podium once again, but a second-place finishin the 50-yard freestyle event is the first one that comes to mind more than 50 years later.
“I remember being on the blocks and starting to fall forward, and I stood straight up right when the gunwent off,” he said. “I was the last one in the water and was expected to win the event, but I came insecond. It’s amazing how those things stick with you the rest of your life.”
His college career was put on hold that spring but would resume two years later, as a condition placedon a marriage proposal brought him back to campus.
“My dad’s business in the Milwaukee area failed, so I was called back home,” he recalled. “In order toavoid being drafted into the Army, I joined the Milwaukee Police Department and became a motorcycleofficer. One night, I stopped a nurse in her car, and I wound up marrying her. She said, ‘I’ll only marryyou if you go back to school and finish your degree.’”
Though thoroughly focused on academics upon his return, Kiekhofer ultimately agreed to return to theswimming program in time for the 1966 College Conference of Illinois (CCI) Championships, winning the50- and 100-yard freestyle events and the 400 medley relay as North Central claimed its 17th straightconference title.
Kiekhofer credits his student-athlete experience for setting the stage for a successful professional careerand showcasing the power of sheer effort.
“I thought the primary benefit of being an athlete was learning that we don’t know how well we can dountil we put out the maximum effort we can,” he said. “I found that to be true in the business world aswell. After I graduated, my goal was to someday be the president of a company, which I was able to do. Icarried that competitive spirit of having to challenge yourself to the maximum in order to do the bestyou can.”
