Chiles leads m. swimming, in and out of pool

The chant reverberates across the deck, spreading from the 50-odd members of the men's swimming team to the DeNunzio crowd.

"Chiles . . . Chiles . . . Chiles . . . "

The meet has come down to the final 4x100-yard freestyle relay. Two exhausted swimmers stand by the block in center lane four, their legs complete. In the pool, it is unclear who is ahead. But all eyes and attention are focused on one swimmer, crouched on the starting block, waiting to dive in to swim Princeton's anchor leg.

Justin Chiles.

The hopes of a team lie on Chiles' broad shoulders. The meet will hinge on his ability to bring home the final relay faster than the other team's anchor, to get his hand on the wall faster than anyone else.

It is a moment of pressure and expectation, but the senior co-captain from Moraga, Calif., doesn't look at it with quite that perspective.

"I try to tune it all out," Chiles said. "It doesn't really matter what the atmosphere is, I just try to focus on having a good relay transition and channeling my extra adrenaline into pacing the race a bit faster rather than getting myself nervous about it."

Chiles' calm demeanor and ability to stay focused have made him a key member of Princeton's lineup this season and over the past four years. At the Princeton Invitational in December, Chiles was the team's star, winning two individual events and anchoring three winning relays. Chiles has made such performances routine this year — especially dominating his favorite race, the 200 free — leading the team to an 8-1 dual meet record heading into the season-ending Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championships.

But for all his accomplishments in the pool, perhaps it is his out-of-water skills that have been most beneficial to the team.

"Chiles is a great team leader — he's one of the best ever," head coach Rob Orr said. "We're really going to miss him next year."

It's safe to say that Chiles will miss Orr and his teammates as much as they'll miss him. Calling the team a "family," Chiles emphasizes the importance of the team's commitment to one another, both in and out of the pool, as a key factor in the Tigers' history of success.

"There is a 100-year tradition of swimming at Princeton," he said. "You have four years to be a part of it and leave your mark."

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Not surprisingly, then, he focuses more on team accomplishments than ib his own individual feats. Ask him about his favorite swimming moment and he talks about the Tigers winning the 2002 EISL Championship after a seven-year drought. Ask him about goals for the end of the season and he refers to the ultimate team goal: winning the 2005 EISL title over a talented Harvard team.

Picture-perfect elegance

The journey to his current level of success wasn't easy. Chiles started swimming as a six-year-old for a summer team, and then began swimming year round for Orinda Aquatics as a 12-year-old.

Under coach Ron Heidary, Chiles swam for a "technique-based program" — one that emphasized refining skill over pounding out yardage — and developed his characteristic long stroke. As a result, Chiles swims with picture-perfect elegance.

"I had a tough time when I was a little kid because I would always get beaten by these kids who had high turnover rates," Chiles says. "But my coach kept telling me to stick with it and that I would come out fine in the end."

Indeed, it paid off. Under Orr's program, Chiles continued to improve, eventually emerging as one of the top swimmers in the Ivy League.

His mental strength is just as important. He is a racer whose competitive spirit fuels his passion for the sport, keeping him constantly searching for a way to gain an extra tenth of a second.

He says it's "the feeling you get on the last 50 or 100" and the "thrill of being in a race" that helps him bring home those crucial relays, often catching opponents as they fade down the stretch.

"Chiles doesn't know how to lose," senior co-captain Pat Gremban says. "You can put him in any close race, any situation where things are looking rough, and he'll come out on top."

It's that confidence that drives his teammates to stand on the deck and chant his name as he prepares to dive in to swim the anchor leg. Chances are, when Chiles touches the wall 44 seconds later, they won't be disappointed.

But either way, he already earned their respect and left his mark on Princeton swimming long ago.