Q&A with 2000 Olympian Jim Gruenwald

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Heather Van Peursem (USA Wrestling)
01/18/2001


Q&A with 2000 Olympian Jim Gruenwald    1) How hard was it for you to get back into the "swing of things" when you got back from Sydney?    "The hardest part was adjusting to the time change. I got home on a Saturday, and went back to work teaching Monday morning. It took me about a week to get adjusted with my sleeping habits."    2) How did your students react to you being back?    "Great. They had a lot of questions for me in regards to my wins and losses in the Olympics (since I placed sixth). But they were very excited for me and they are glad I'm back. They had a student teacher for awhile, so they had to adjust to that for a little bit."    3) What's new in your life since you got back?    "On December 16 my wife Rachel and I found out that she is pregnant. It will be our first child; she is due August 8. This is another big thing in our lives, we are both looking forward to being parents."    4) Are you looking in the future to 2004?    "Yes, and I'm just taking it one day at a time right now. That's the best I can do. Now that camp has started I feel better about my training. When I got back from the Olympics, I only worked out once a day, now I'm back to twice a day. I was gone for about three weeks over the holidays which changed my work out schedule, but now I'm back and ready to go."    5) You are a resident athlete at the training center, so you practice there every day. Is it good to work out with the camp here?    "Yes. It's always good to get everybody together and get the level of practice up a bit."