Cedric Buessing will never forget his first college swim meet.
"It was kind of incredible," said Buessing, a swimming student-athlete at UIndy and a 2024 Olympian for Germany. "It was so loud. There was so much cheering."
Originally from Grevenbroich, Germany, Buessing was unsure of what to expect when he came to the United States and began his college career during the 2021-22 season. The team-oriented approach he found upon arrival was very different than what he had experienced as a swimmer in his native country.
"It's a lot more of a team sport in the U.S. than it is in Germany," he said. "In Germany, we don't really spend time together after practice. Here, we live together, we eat together, go to school together. … It's like a family."
For Buessing, this is true in more ways than one. His younger brother, Silas, is also a member of the men's swimming and diving team at UIndy. With Silas recently finishing his freshman year, Buessing says he already has felt the positive impact of having his brother close by.
"It's been an awesome year," he said. "We hadn't trained together for five years, so it was just like an extra push. We pushed each other every single practice. He got faster this year, I got faster this year. … I feel like it was just motivation having my best friend there."
While this familial connection has been valuable, he also has benefited as one of 28 international student-athletes representing 19 countries on the 2023-24 men's swimming and diving roster. Buessing says that has deepened a sense of community and allowed him to make connections with other competitors and members of the swimming community around the world.
"It's just a bond," he said. "It's a cool thing to help establish the culture and familiarity."
Although Buessing and his teammates come from a variety of backgrounds, they all share a passion for the sport that brought them to Indianapolis. However, Buessing's reason for choosing UIndy extends far beyond his love of swimming.
The "Life in the Balance" philosophy of Division II is important to Buessing, who values being engaged with and focused on multiple things at once. With academic aspirations and passions outside of swimming, he chose UIndy hoping that it would challenge him both in and out of the pool. Now reflecting on his experience, he thinks the environment has done just that.
"I felt like this was the perfect mixture," he said of his decision to attend a Division II school. "I don't like to just concentrate on sport, I like to have something else going on."
Buessing has found that his teammates share a similar sentiment. While they spend countless hours training and pushing one another in the pool, they also have fun outside the pool, often cooking together or recreationally playing other sports such as Ultimate Frisbee or volleyball.
This balance has served Buessing well. He has put together a dominant athletic career during his three years on the team, highlighted by two Division II individual titles, six national runner-up finishes, 16 All-America honors, 13 Great Lakes Valley Conference titles and three GLVC Swimmer of the Year honors. He holds UIndy program records in eight events.
Buessing has also excelled in the classroom, boasting a 3.85 cumulative GPA while majoring in business administration and management. He earned 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-American second-team honors and is a two-time College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-American.
Recently qualifying to represent Germany at the 2024 Paris Games in the 400-meter individual medley, Buessing credits his professors, coaches and teammates with allowing him to continue to succeed in the classroom while working to make his Olympic dream a reality.
"My teammates helped me with notes and getting prepared for exams," he said. "Certain professors really provided feedback and support, and it was great. It gave me the chance to prepare to even qualify."
After all the support received and hard work put in, Buessing says the moment he qualified still felt surreal.
"It was just like slow motion," he said. "It was incredible. I almost started sobbing. … I just couldn't believe it."
Valuing the teamwork and community he has found at the collegiate level, Buessing is set to return to UIndy to earn his degree and compete for one final season following the 2024 Paris Games. He is eager to close out what has been a highly successful career and memorable part of his journey, all while keeping the team at the center of his focus.
"It's just so much fun to compete with my friends who became like brothers to me during this last three years," he said.
"I want to have fun, make an impact, have a great season again," he added of his goals for next year. "Maybe win the team (conference) championship again … swim some fast times and have an unforgettable year."
First, he will look to embrace the opportunity to compete among the best in the world this summer.
"The Olympics, I would say, is the biggest dream of every single swimmer," he said. "I'm really excited to just take it all in — to just be there, experience it all, have fun and represent Germany well."