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list of pet peeves can be rather lengthy and include many things
in which most people agree—people who talk over others constantly,
driving too slow in the fast lane, cutting in line, parking a car across
two spaces, the use of “your” instead of “you’re”, not picking up after
one’s dog, Facebook users who constantly give their political/moral
opinions, among numerous others.
Brandon Fiala’s top pet peeve probably wouldn’t make many lists.
And unfortunately for him, he expects to get a healthy dose of it in the
coming weeks.
“The biggest pet peeve of mine is sitting around with nothing to do,”
he said. “I’m going to have to find new and creative ways to spend my
free time in April.”
Over the past four years, Fiala made a name for himself as one of the
best swimmers in the history of men’s swimming and diving at Virginia
Tech, and his career concludes at the NCAA Championships later in
March. Out of the pool, he served on Tech’s Student-Athlete Advisory
Committee (SAAC), read to elementary school children and recently
wrapped up his tenure as the school’s first ACC representative at the
NCAA Convention, which took place in mid-January at the Gaylord
Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
The latter accomplishment puts Fiala in a category of his own within
Virginia Tech Athletics. Named one of three ACC student-athlete
representatives back in January of 2016, Fiala served as one of 80
members of the voting delegation, meaning he became the first Tech
athlete to vote on legislation at an NCAA Convention.
It’s an accomplishment that may be just as important, if not more
so, than anything he accomplished in the pool—a place where he holds
three school records.
“To be perfectly honest, I knew very little about it [being a student-
athlete representative] going in,” Fiala said. “They [ACC officials]
said you would have power, but you don’t realize it until you get into
those conversations, and you’re standing up with 300 people—300 of
the most powerful people in college athletics—that are realistically
shaping the lives of thousands of student-athletes. Nothing prepared
me for that.
“It was forceful grow-up. It taught me a lot of life lessons. It taught
me that I needed to be comfortable around these types of people. Your
opinion matters, and that’s something that I hadn’t been exposed to at
that level.”
Fiala and the two other student-athlete representatives from the
ACC—Duke track and field standout Madison Granger and Florida
State football player Wilson Bell—spent much of 2016 working in
conjunction with Brad Hostetter, ACC executive commissioner for
internal affairs; Matt Burgemeister, ACC associate commissioner
for compliance and governance; and Shamaree Brown,
director of student-athlete programs and
compliance. They gathered
information from student-
athletes throughout the
ACC about an array
of issues. Most of
the athletes to whom
they talked to served
in leadership roles
on their respective
school’s SAAC or as
a member of the
ACC’s SAAC.
One of the most decorated swimmers in
Virginia Tech history, Brandon Fiala
offered his input on time demand issues
of student-athletes and became the first
student-athlete at the school to cast a
vote at an NCAA Convention
by
Jimmy Robertson
NCAA
CONVENTION
EDUCATIONAL
EXPERIENCE
FOR
FIALA
A
IHS
extra
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Inside Hokie Sports