It Runs in the Family?

My paternal grandfather, Evar Swanson, was an outstanding athlete. After graduating from DeKalb (Illinois) High School, Evar attended Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois where he was an excellent student-athlete. He won two scholarships and lettered each year in baseball, basketball, football, and track. He set school records in the 100 and 220-yard dashes. In 1923, Evar ran the 100 yard dash in 9.8 seconds, just 2/10th of a second off the world record. He played all five positions in basketball and, despite never playing football in high school, he scored 109 points for the Lombard College team in 1921. In Evar’s first three seasons, Lombard’s only loss was to Knute Rockne’s Notre Dame and the “Four Horsemen.”

After college, Evar began his professional baseball career in 1924 with the Mississippi Valley League, Moline (Illinois) Plowboys. He then moved to the prestigious Pacific Coast League (PCL), 1925-1928. Next, he played two years for the Cincinnati Reds. Then, from 1931 to 1932, he played for the Columbus (Ohio) Red Birds. He finished his baseball career with the Chicago White Sox (1932-1934).

He also played professional football with the Milwaukee Badgers; the Chicago Cardinals; and a team formed by Jim Thorpe, the Rock Island (Illinois) Independents. The latter team played an exhibition game at the close of the 1925 season against the Chicago Bears in which Evar ran 50 yards for a touchdown and kicked the extra point for a 7-6 win over the Bears.

What kind of an athlete was he? - FAST! Evar led the PCL in steals in 1926 and again in 1928. In 1929 he once again displayed his speed by stealing 33 bases while playing for the Cincinnati Reds.

Evar’s speed is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest base runner. He proved how fast he was on September 15, 1929, between games of a doubleheader between the Boston Braves and Cincinnati Reds. Then a rookie outfielder with the Reds, Evar was chosen to compete with a few other players in a race around the bases – in full uniform. He won the contest, timed by the Amateur Athletic Union officials, circling the bases in an amazing 13.3 seconds.

I wish I could say that Evar’s speed runs in the family, and that I was the lucky recipient of the “speed gene.” Many physical traits run in families, like eye color; skin tone; hairline shape; and the percentage of fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. Fast twitch muscle fibers produce the same amount of force for each contraction as slow twitch muscle fibers, but they get their name because they can fire far more rapidly - making them better for explosive, fast and forceful athletics. Most people are born with 50% slow twitch muscle fibers and 50% fast twitch muscle fibers.

Bengt Saltin, a professor of human physiology at the University of Copenhagen's Muscle Research Centre in Denmark, said “If you don't have at least 70 to 80 percent fast twitch muscle fibers, I'd say it's unlikely you could be among the world's top sprinters." Elite runners, like Evar, are born with at least 70 to 80% fast twitch muscle fibers. And, while training and practice can obviously improve muscle performance, Dr. Saltin’s research suggests slow twitch fibers cannot be converted into fast twitch, meaning that the percentage of fast twitch fibers an athlete has is what their genes gave them.

1934 - My Dad and Grandpa

But any gene-centered explanation for athletic success dismisses the importance of a whole host of psycho-social and cultural factors that are likely to be major contributors to success. Evar would never have been successful if he simply sat on the sidelines. He was motivated to participate in sports in order to go to college on scholarships.  There he was encouraged and cheered on by people around him, and then, after college, he challenged himself to be the best athlete he could be by competing in professional sports. His behavior was crucial to his success.

Likewise, you don’t become a runner by sitting on the sidelines. Your ability to run the best you can isn’t decipherable from your DNA; it waits to be realized through your behavior – through the simple act of running. I did NOT inherit my grandfather’s “speed gene,” I probably have a low percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers. I am an old lady, slowpoke runner but, like Evar, I strive to be the best runner I can be by simply running - regardless of my genetics, age, or what others think of my lack of speed.  

I am a runner, as s-l-o-w as my grandfather was fast. So in a sense, I guess being a runner does “run in the family.”

Evar accomplished all his athletic feats way before I was born. As a child, I knew my grandpa had played baseball but I fondly remember visiting the Galesburg Post Office where he worked as the Postmaster. He had a “giant” desk with lots of cubbyholes. Most notably, I remember my grandpa for his bear hugs and his homemade peach ice cream. It wasn’t until after his death, and as an adult, did I learn the full extent of his athletic achievements. I am in awe.

My grandpa died on July 17, 1973.  Hilt Sprunger, a former Secretary of the Illinois High School Athletic Association, noted his passing - “Evar Swanson was probably the state’s greatest all-time athlete. Not only was he a tremendous competitor, but he was also in every sense, a gentleman.” - and my grandpa, a runner extraordinaire.

"I always enjoyed everything I did." - Evar Swanson

Galesburg Register-Mail, June 27, 1972