Mark Eder ’12

Everyone has seen Marc Eder on campus sometime or another. Perhaps he helped move you into your freshman dorm during orientation or maybe you have partied with him at a Phi Si frat party. Regardless of where you know him from, Eder is so multi-faceted that it is hard to miss his presence on this small campus.

Marc Eder
Year:2012
Hometown:Princeton, NJ
Major– Double majoring in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and History
Minor– Economics and Computer Science

Her Campus: You are the captain of the swimming team at Brandeis, the President of Phi Si, and an orientation leader: What else are you involved in at school that you are also passionate about?
Marc: What am I also passionate about? Well, I am in the Adagio Dance shows (the Fall show is November 9^th) and I am a TA for Computer Science11: Programming Java. Last year, I participated in Liquid Latex, and that was fun.

HC: How do you find time to manage all of your commitments and still have a social life?
Marc: I don’t sleep much [laughs]. I don’t really know. I tend to prioritize well. I do what I have to do first, but I also do what I don’t want to do. 

HC:When did you start swimming? Was it more your decision or your parent’s?
Marc: I started to learn how to swim when I was a year and a half. I began to swim competitively on a club team when I was 5 years old. Swimming was more my decision. When I was young, it was probably more my parent’s choice to have me swim because I was a hyper kid. Then I stuck with it because it gave me something to do, and I love it.

HC: What swimmer do you look up to?
Marc:That would have to be my first swim coach. He was a hard ass. I must say that I learned a lot from him. He would yell at us for everything, even for us asking to go to the bathroom. I still credit him for my technique and discipline.

HC: What events do you normally compete in at swim meets? Which is your favorite?
Marc:I normally swim the 200m breast stroke, 100m breast stroke , 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley. Out of all of them, my favorite is the 200m breast stroke because it’s my best event.

HC: What is your opinion on the construction of the new pool? How do you feel about the swim teams competing at the club level this season?
Marc: I am proud to say that I am one of the last people to swim in the old pool, but I am also happy that they are fixing it. The pool breaking was the turning point at Brandeis: everything was happy and optimistic then took a sharp turn to reality. We do not have a full team for a varsity squad because we stopped recruiting. We have about 6 guys and would have had 6 to 7 girls on the varsity team. With this small of a team, we wouldn’t be able to meet NCAA requirements to compete in nationals. So, I don’t have another shot to make nationals with the small varsity team. My original goal when I got here was to make nationals all four years, except I only was able to make it freshman year. Now it’s just time to make the Olympic trials, and redeem myself in some way.

HC: What are some quirky facts about you that most readers don’t know?
Marc:I’m really good at trivia. [I] drink way too much Dr. Pepper, about 4 cans a day. I looked up an article online and found out that there are some serious health risks associated with drinking that much soda a day, which isn’t good, but I still do it. Another fact is that he is also the reigning champion Mr. Brandeis.