| After Silver-Medal Summer, Haley Cope Relishes
a Normal Life
By Scott Ball
 Although
Haley Cope is not so far removed from her days as a Golden Bear
– competing for Cal and coach Teri McKeever from 1998-01
– a catching up of Cope’s accomplishments among the
worlds’ swimming elite is in order.
Cope, 25, is finally taking a break from the aquatic scene after
being immersed in competitive swimming since age 11. After 14
years of almost daily workouts and high-level competition, cumulating
with the 2004 Olympics in Athens and most recently the FINA World
Short Course Championships in Indianapolis, she is just now settling
down in Chico. Cope grew up in the Northern California town, and
even though she has been married to Brian Clark since October
of 2002, she is just now returning home to normalcy.
“I was so lucky to be a professional swimmer,” said
Cope, who along with being a member of the USA National Team,
is sponsored by Nike and has done some modeling. “But for
right now, I am definitely on a break. I might get back into swimming
because they say it is difficult to quit cold turkey. My husband
and I have just started living together, even though we have been
married for two years. I always said I would come home after the
Olympics and maybe have children and get a job. Swimming is a
selfish sport and now I have obligations to someone else. It might
be time to get my jollies doing something else. I am done swimming
for awhile. It was so much fun that I always felt like I was getting
away with something.”
Cope did get away with something, or more accurately, earned
something. Her latest exploits came at the world short course
meet in October. Cope started the competition with a first-place
in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 59.03. She later won
the 50-meter back with a mark of 27.49, while was also a member
of the U.S. silver medal-winning 400-meter medley team.
In the world stage of the 2004 Athens Olympics, Cope was among
13 other swimmers and two coaches (Teri McKeever and Mike Bottom)
with ties to Cal and represented herself in impressive fashion.
She earned a silver medal by swimming in the prelims of the 400
medley relay, and individually qualified for the finals of the
100-meter backstroke, placing eighth with a career-best time of
1:01.13.
“It was helpful having a lot of Cal people around at the
Olympics,” said Cope. “There were all kinds of folks
with Cal connections, and it definitely helps you when you are
around people you are familiar with.”
A couple of people Cope was obviously familiar with in Athens
were McKeever and standout Natalie Coughlin. It was the Cal connection
of Coughlin and Cope that placed 1-2 at the Olympic Trials in
the 100-meter back, enabling both Bears to compete together at
the Olympics.
Cope gives a large amount of credit for her development into
a world-class swimmer to her coaches and teammates at Cal. She
came to Berkeley from Chico High School and the Chico Aqua Jets
Swim Club, and thrived behind the coaching of McKeever and the
competition within her own team.
“I told people coming out of high school that I was going
to swim under a 55.0 in the 100-yard back,” said Cope. “Terri
was the only one who said, ‘What the heck’, and gave
me a chance. I really enjoyed swimming with people like Marylyn
Chiang and Staciana Stitts. It was Staciana who told me what to
expect at the Olympics after she had been to Sydney in 2000.”
It was a good thing McKeever gave Cope a chance as she made
the most of her opportunity in Berkeley, In 2000, Cope was named
the Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year, helping Cal to a fourth-place
national finish. Cope was the second of three consecutive Pac-10
Swimmers of the Year under McKeever, following Marylyn Chiang
in 1999, and preceding Coughlin (2001-03).
“Cal was really a great place to go,” said Cope,
who majored in mass communications. “It was a great environment
and a huge key in my development as a swimmer. It had a lot to
do with the people I trained with. You had to be super fast just
to keep up, and the competition just within your team pushed you.
There is no way I would be as good as I am now without my Cal
teammates.”
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