When Chris Swanson arrived at Otterbein, he was highly regarded as a versatile track athlete who could be competitive in several events; however, pole vault was not one of them. He took up the vault after arriving and all he did was win the conference four-straight times, qualify for the national meet, set the school record and eventually, after college, make it to the Olympic Trials. During his junior and senior seasons, Chris won both the indoor and outdoor Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) pole vault, while also placing high in the javelin toss. The highlight of his college career came at the NCAA Indoor Championship meet in 2005 where he vaulted 17-5 ½ to win the meet and become Otterbein’s third national champion in track and field. He also earned All-American honors on two other occasions, finishing second in 2004 and fifth in 2005 outdoors. Chris currently holds Otterbein and OAC records with a best collegiate vault of 17-6, and also sits tenth on the all-time javelin list.