Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame inductee Steve Shipps made big splash at DeWitt, MSU

Steve Shipps remembers the glory days.

The DeWitt native recalls when the Lansing area was a hotbed for swimming talent in the mid-1980s and 90s and plenty of schools were producing Big Ten swimmers.

Shipps was one of the area’s premier swimmers in that era and will be recognized for this month when he is inducted into the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame.

A 1988 DeWitt graduate, Shipps was a high school All-American and won five individual state titles, earned all-state honors 10 times and was named the Class B swimmer of the year three times. He followed that success by going on to Michigan State, where he was a two-time captain and earned All-Big Ten and All-American honors.

Shipps realized his talent at an early age and made his first big splash as a 10-year-old when he flourished at a state meet. Shipps had unexpected success and won five of his six events. And that experience set the tone for his swimming career.

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Shoulder issues slowed Shipps down for a few years, but being limited added to his drive to get back to performing at a high level.

"When that happened it really fueled me to try to get back to that pace that I was as a 10-year-old,” Shipps said. “I spent a majority of my career after that trying to get back to that higher level and was able to do that. By high school, I was back to that level and took it a step further later in high school by becoming an All-American in four events. There was a fair number of years there - probably three years - that I really spent trying to work back to the level where I thought I should be at from before.”

The fondest memories for Shipps from his swimming days included edging rival Joe McGinnis of Dearborn in the 100 freestyle as a junior in a race that at the time was considered one of the best. He also remembers the first trip to the NCAA meet during his college career and he and teammates exceeding their expectations and earning All-American recognition.

Now Shipps is giving back to the sport as the president of the Mid-Michigan Aquatics. And his main focus is trying to get the Lansing area back to its swimming glory days.

“I’m trying to create a culture of this club and get it back to some of the glory days in the Lansing area where you had kids coming out of every high school that were going to the Big Ten and that were becoming captains of their Big Ten team,” Shipps said. “There was a flurry of years there in the mid-1980s and the early 1990s where lots of great swimmers were coming out of Lansing and doing great things in college. We’re trying to push to get back to that. I think we’re becoming more and more competitive every year.”

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.

Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame

What: 42nd Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony

When/Where: July 27 at the Lansing Center; dinner is scheduled for 5:45 p.m., followed by the ceremony at 6:45. 

Admission: $35 (Reserved seating only, no ticket sales at door). Go to lansingsportshalloffame.org or contact Bob Every at 517-484-0677 or everyb21@gmail.com.

Sponsors: Magic Johnson Enterprises, Dean Transportation, Auto-Owners Insurance, Applegate Home Comfort, Dan Henry Distributing and Two Men And A Truck.

Race fundraiser: The Run for Fame 5K/10K Run/Walk will be July 23 in Lansing. Entry details at playmakers.com.