Diving in with Cale Blinkman and Emma Lezer

Diving in with Cale

Favorite hobby (outside of sports): Frisbee and bowling
Favorite musical artist or band: NF, Eminem, Logic, J. Cole
Favorite TV show or movie: The Office
Favorite professional team: Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Twins
Favorite restaurant: Kozy Korner in Hudson, Wis.
Biggest fear: not reaching my full potential
Biggest pet peeve: people who talk a lot but don't listen
Person you'd most like to meet: Eminem, NF, or Logic
Dream vacation spot: Gold Coast, Australia
Sport you'd like to try but never have: Ultimate Frisbee or bowling

Diving in with Emma

Favorite hobby (outside of sports): people watching
Favorite musical artist or band: everything
Favorite TV show or movie: Criminal Minds
Favorite restaurant: Maynards
Biggest fear: letting myself down and not doing my best
Biggest pet peeve: interrupting
Person you'd most like to meet: Katie Ledecky or Caeleb Dressel
Dream vacation spot: Italy
Sport you'd like to try but never have: gymnastics

With the 2019-20 swimming and diving season less than one month away, GopherSports.com sat down each of Minnesota's 24 newcomers in order to get to know them better prior to the team's Oct. 11 opener at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

Leading the charge are freshmen Cale Blinkman and Emma Lezer. Blinkman is a breaststroker hailing from Hudson, Wis. As a senior, Blinkman was All-State in the 200 medley relay and Honorable Mention All-State in the 100 breast and 400 free relay. Additionally, he was named Academic All-State on three separate occasions.

Lezer, a Rogers, Minn. native, competes in the both the breaststroke and butterfly. During her high school career, she was a three-time All-American and State Champion in the 100 breast, while also being named the 2019 AA Minnesota Swimmer of the Year. In the classroom, Lezer was a member of National Honor Society.

GopherSports.com: Why did you choose to attend the University of Minnesota?
Blinkman: "My dad is an alumni and my sister goes here. She's a junior in the nursing program, so I thought it'd be cool to carry on that Minnesota tradition. Also, I thought it would be a great place for me to prosper in both my academic and athletic careers. Minnesota is known for its breaststroke program and I'm a breaststroker so I thought it'd be a really good place to continue my breaststroke career. I really love the coaches and the team, too. I'm just really happy to be able to call myself a Gopher and excited to be here."
Lezer: "I knew I wanted to stay in the Midwest area and I liked the Big Ten Conference too, so that narrowed it down to those schools. I visited a few of them and I liked how close Minnesota was and the culture here. I liked the academics, too. That was very important."

GS: When did you first start swimming?
Blinkman: "It all started when I was eight. I have a twin brother and we got into the sport through my sister. She came home from school one day and I remember her saying how much she loved it and that we should try it out. At the time, we were wrestling, playing football, baseball and a bunch of sports, and we added swimming to that list. After a while, I began to develop a passion for swimming and narrowed it down to just swimming. That's how I fell in love with the sport."
Lezer: "We started in swim lessons and after that we went to a club. My parents just put us in swim lessons to learn how to swim. My mom was an NCAA swimmer and my dad was a diver, so they didn't try super hard to get us into swimming. Then we started club and we really liked it, so we kept going with it and made it to college."

GS: What would you say is your biggest strength in the pool and what is one thing you're hoping to improve this year?
Blinkman: "Mentally, I'd say my biggest strength is getting in the zone before a race and just believing in myself and what I can do in the water. Physically in the pool, I'm a breastroker, that's one of my strengths. I like to consider myself a sprinter and sprint freestsyler. Of course, I've got a long way to go with that, but I think the training I'm doing here will help."
Lezer: "I'm definitely hoping to improve my leg strength, because that's a weakness of mine. For strengths, I have good reaction times and I've never had any issues with my shoulders, so those are pretty good."

GS: What is the most memorable moment of your swimming career?
Blinkman: "This past high school season. Even though the time wasn't that great, my twin brother, Shane, and I were able to lead a relay at one of our home meets to break the pool, school and conference records. That was just a great moment for both us and our swim team."
Lezer: "Probably when I won high school states for the first time. There was a lot of support from the team and it was just really exciting."

GS: Who has been your biggest mentor or inspiration throughout your career?
Blinkman: "I suppose it's kind of a cliché, but Michael Phelps. Seeing his extreme dedication to the sport, never taking a day off and his vision for wanting to do something that nobody has even done before – I think that's really inspiring. He had that goal and achieved it."
Lezer: "Probably my brother, Max. He's on the team here, too. He's super supportive and a great brother."

GS: Did you play any other sports growing up or in high school?
Blinkman: "Baseball, football and wrestling. I definitely feel like today I could be on an Ultimate Frisbee team. I'm really good at Frisbee and maybe even bowling. Bowling and Frisbee are really fun for me."
Lezer: "I did soccer when I was really young and I did gymnastics for a season, but I stopped after that."

GS: What are you looking forward to most throughout the upcoming season?
Blinkman: "I'm looking forward to getting to know my teammates and getting to compete with that "M" on my cap. It's going to be great just to compete for Minnesota, for the school I love and to represent the U."
Lezer: "Just the experience. Experiencing new things and seeing how they affect my training and everything."

Follow Women's Swim & Dive

Don't miss any of the action from the course. Stay connected to Gopher Swim & Dive!

Support Swim & Dive

Support the University of Minnesota Swim & Dive program. Your support helps our student-athletes succeed athletically, academically, and socially. It takes just seconds to make a monthly or one-time donation. Thank you for your support! Give Now

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Cale Blinkman

Emma Lezer