Todd Sweeris

U.S. Olympic Team Member -- Youngest Member of U.S. National Men's Team -- 2618 Rated USATT, 2780 Rated UHRL.

At what age did making the U.S. Olympic Team become the THE GOAL for young Todd Sweeris? By age 13, it was already the reason for that extra bit of effort in practice, that extra five minutes of service practice, the prime motivating factor. The Olympic Team ... the Dream.

So when Todd did just that in 1996, making the U.S. Olympic Team, he was left without goals. THE GOAL had been reached. He would soon find it difficult, after this 15-year quest, to change goals.

But change them he did. He still has major table tennis goals - win Men's Singles at the Nationals, make the 2000 Olympic Team and the 1999 Pan Am Team - but he now has other goals. Goals that, one by one, are being met.

One such goal was met in May, 1998, when Todd received his bachelor's degree in accounting (with a minor in economics) from University of Maryland, just a few days before his 25th birthday. After a summer of golf, table tennis, golf, reading, and golf, Todd will start working on August 10 in Washington, D.C. as a Tax Associate at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, one of the more exclusive accounting firms in the U.S. The nicest thing about Deloitte & Touche is that they will grant time off for him to train for major tournaments. He already has plans to take time off to train for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Todd and parents Dell & Connie, both USATT Hall of Fame members. He is thinking of going back to school later on to get a Master's degree either in Business or Taxation. ("The tax code is very complicated, and needs to be simplified," he said. "It's ridiculous that the average person can't understand it or easily do their own taxes.") He said he has no idea where his professional career will take him. However, he does have a goal here as well.

"The ultimate goal," Todd said, "would be to be able to control my own time. To be able to take time off whenever I want." He hopes to take one step toward this goal by taking the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) test in November. He said it is very difficult to pass on the first try - which of course is his goal.

While we're on the subject of goals, Todd is currently a 19 handicap in golf - a "good" 19, as he puts it, since he is very strict on rules. He hopes to reach a 13-14 handicap by the end of the summer. "It's fun to do something different than table tennis," Todd said. "I like the challenge. It's also a social game. I play regularly with my roommates - who also play table tennis. It's also good for business."

But, Todd is not letting golf get in the way of his other table tennis. He trains about four times per week, mostly with Sean Lonergan and Jessica Shen. He is especially working on returning deeps serves with his pips-out backhand as a variation from stepping around and looping a forehand, and on getting more balance between his forehand and backhand in his game. His backhand has improved quite a bit this past year, and he says he doesn't have to take as many chances with his forehand. "I feel I can go backhand to backhand with anybody in the country right now," he said.

Todd was a member of the Resident Training Program for Table Tennis in Colorado Springs for five years, starting at age 13 in 1986. He was the youngest person there his first year and was away from his parents for an extended time for the first time in his life. During those years, he was always the #2 player of his age in the country - always behind Chi-Sun Chui.

"From the time we first played, before we were 10, we must have played each other over 100 tournament matches," Todd said of Chi-Sun. "I never won a game." Year after year at the Junior Olympics and Junior Nationals, it would be Chi-Sun first, Todd second.

At the 1990 Junior Olympics/Junior Nationals (held together), it started off just as it always had. In the Junior Olympic Under 18 Boys' Singles Final, in the next-to-last junior final the two 17-year-olds would ever play, Chi-Sun again won easily. But the next day, in the Junior Nationals Under 18 Boys' Singles Final, it finally happened. Todd won not only his first match, but his first GAME against Chi-Sun in a tournament, and so became the U.S. National Junior Boys' Singles Champion! Other than the Olympics, this had been Todd's goal for years.

In 1992, Todd (who had just broken 2400 in rating) moved to Maryland to train for table tennis while attending University of Maryland. He'd get to train with Cheng Yinghua and many of the other top players there. Many of the past members of the RTP in Colorado were already there, so he was back with many of the people he'd grown up with. He moved in with past RTPer Rocky Wang, and began balancing books with ping-pong balls as both began college.

Todd is firmly opinionated on the subject of college. "College is the best time of life," he said. "Everybody should go to college. Those that don't simply don't know what they are missing. It's for everybody. You meet many new people, and are exposed to so many new ideas. Kids should understand that they can combine school and table tennis. You just have to manage your time. Myself, Chi-Sun Chui, Khoa Nguyen, many others - each of us were able to go to school full-time and still continue to play table tennis at a high level, even to improve, as I did."

When not playing golf, table tennis or golf, Todd likes to play golf, watch sports on TV, and read. He likes three types of books: books on business, fiction books that revolve around business or a related field (John Grisham books especially, although he also reads everything by James Patterson), and "books that make you reflect on life." Under this last category is the book he is currently reading, "Tuesdays with Morrie," recommended to him by U.S. Team Manager Bob Fox. "It's a real story about a teacher who is dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. It's about how to get the most out of life."

Todd also likes playing hard bat table tennis, which means using a racket with no sponge. He started playing this now and then at the RTP in Colorado, and recently has played more often. He completely dominated the recent Maryland/New Jersey Hard Bat Open in May, and in the new ratings, just edges out Marty Reisman as the #1 rated player in the country, 2780-2766. He said that if the hard bat event were held after the sponge events - as they used to be - he'd play more. However, this is a rather controversial issue, as many of the "hard-line" hard bat players don't want their event held up until near the end of the tournament, after most of the players have left - leaving few to watch the finals.

Controversy in table tennis is not something Todd wants to get involved in any more. "In 1996, after the Olympics, I was pretty sore on table tennis," he said. He had just spent a year as a Player Rep on the Board of Directors. "So political! So much fighting!" he said. "It has to stop! That's one reason I like golf - there are no politics or conflicts for me."

In many ways, Todd is following in his parents' footsteps. His mother, Connie, was the 1971 U.S. Women's Singles Champion, and was on the U.S. Team that toured China that year in "Ping Pong Diplomacy." His father, Dell, a member of the famous "Boos Brothers," was on the U.S. Team for a number of years (including the team that toured the U.S. with China in 1972). He has teamed up with Connie to win four U.S. National Mixed Doubles Championships. Dell is also an accountant with a CPA, and he and Connie live - yes, lives! - on a golf course in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the two play golf nearly every day. Just before entering the work force in August, Todd will be flying to Michigan to take part in a "Scramble" golf tournament with his parents.

So Todd's future world seems a bit of GARP - golf, accounting, reading, and ping-pong. And that, according to Garp, I mean Todd, is quite enough for him as he relaxes on the 19th green. Green golf courses, green money, green tables, and (it's true!) a green car - it's a life that would leave some green with envy.

Classic Hard Bat Table Tennis