Mundelein’s Davidson overcomes adversity

It’s a fanny pack.

It’s a mini stuffed animal.

It’s … both.

A furry version of Tigger, that excessively exuberant character from the Winnie the Pooh franchise, is attached to a zippered pouch. The little limbs are splayed; Tigger, sporting a perma-smile, is begging for a hug.

“Adorable,” Mundelein senior swimmer/water polo player Will Davidson said. “Good ahead, sure. Use that to describe it.

“My mom (Harriet) found the fanny pack at some garage sale, I think.”

It was a cuddly fixture at the Mustangs’ boys water polo games last spring. Davidson made Mundelein assistant coach Russ Gates tote it on deck.

“No way was (Gates) going to wear that thing around his waist,” said Mundelein senior Sean Falconer, also a swimmer/water polo player. “That would have been embarrassing. Too embarrassing.

“It looked like,” Falconer added, “he was carrying a pet.”

Gates, a good sport, swam and chucked water polo balls at Mundelein (Class of 2001). He earned all-Big Ten honors, as a poloist, at the University of Illinois.

“Tall, strong guy,” said Davidson. “Masculine. I thought it would be kind of fun to make him carry that around for me. “

Inside the pouch?

Not-so-fun-stuff:

Glucose tablets.

Test strips.

Blood glucose meter.

“My diabetes supplies,” Davidson said. “I have to have those nearby, at all times.”

The 6-foot-6, 215-pound Davidson was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on Aug. 19, 2009, right before his junior year.

His body stopped making insulin.

The big boy’s blood glucose level went through the roof and probably didn’t stop until it reached a cirrus cloud, maybe a cumulonimbus.

“They tested me,” recalled Davidson, who, as a sophomore in ’09, won the 50-yard freestyle (21.66) at a sectional and qualified for state in four events. “They couldn’t read the reading; it was that high. I was hospitalized for three days.”

Davidson returned to the pool. A natatorium’s clock — it’s always cold, unforgiving — no longer was his primary enemy.

Fatigue was.

“I remember, at one practice, Will was tired after swimming only 200 yards or so,” Mustangs swim coach Rahul Sethna said. “Done. He was done. He couldn’t go another lap. It was rough at first, that junior year. He kept trying to figure out how best to balance his blood sugar. Will went through trial and error, trial and error.

“Before some practices,” Sethna added, “he stuffed himself with three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

His yummy snack of choice, now, is a candy bar, much to the delight of his teammates and coaches.

“I hit him up for a bite of one of his candy bars, just the other day,” said Sethna. “I was hungry.”

Davidson dubbed his junior year “The Dark Year.”

But Will’s will, to do whatever he could to serve the Mustangs as a reliable sprinter, never wavered. He even qualified for state in four events, again.

Sethna had given Davidson a choice, in the week before a sectional last winter: Attempt to qualify for state in the 50 free, 100 free and two relays.

Or pick one of the two sprint races and motor three times as a relay leg.

He went with the relay-heavy option.

It surprised absolutely nobody.

“I love relays,” said Davidson, who swam on a pair of top-11 relays and placed 16th in the 50 free (21.85) at state a year ago.

“I love the chance to get in there and, if we’re behind, chase the guy in front of me. I also love the team aspect of relays. Four guys, together, going for a medal.”

Davidson and three guys — Falconer, junior Bryan Wiener and sophomore Connor Black — were sensational at a sectional last weekend. Twice. At Vernon Hills, they won the 200 medley relay in a pool- and school-record 1:35.28. They won the 200 free relay in a pool- and school-record 1:25.79.

Their rankings, for this weekend’s state meet at New Trier: No. 3 in the 200 medley relay and No. 1 in the 200 free relay.

Fast and furiously fast.

“I have never coached a kid who gets as excited about swimming in a relay as Will does,” said Sethna, who had never coached a top-seeded state relay before this season. “He loves the challenge of relays, especially if he’s trailing when he hits the water. He has the perfect mentality for a relay racer.

“Will,” he added, “gets geared up for relays, any relay.”

Davidson also gets to oar his power-forward frame in the 50 and 100 free races at his final state meet. The Tall Drink of Chlorinated Water is ranked sixth in the 50 (21.35), 17th in the 100 (47.69).

“I’m excited, really excited — for our relays,” he said at a recent practice, noting three legs of the Mustangs’ state-qualifying relays weren’t fully tapered at the VH sectional last Saturday. “Our plan is to get even better times this weekend.”

Diabetes wasn’t in his health plan. But, robustly and wonderfully, he’s got that covered — and it hasn’t cost him a cent.

The total number of days he has felt sorry for himself since the diagnosis: 0.

What he feels these days?

“Lucky,” he said. “Type 1 diabetes, I was told, is usually hereditary. But it’s not, in my case. So what I got was a random disease. It humbled me; I’m more humble now. One of my doctors was concerned I’d get depressed about having diabetes. I won’t. I’m confident I won’t. I truly consider myself lucky, because I didn’t get a devastating disease that’s going to cut my life short.

“I have a disease that I’ll be able to handle for the rest of my life, as long as I do the right things.”

The setting of his life’s next chapter might take place out west — way west.

Davidson is thinking of playing water polo and studying art education at California State University, Long Beach.

When Davidson isn’t sprinting for scalding times in a pool, he’s firing up a kiln at MHS.

Davidson is into ceramics, about as much as he’s into cupping his right hand, atop of starting block, to execute a hilarious “Princess Diaries” royal wave to his fans /adoring subjects in the stands after winning a race.

“Will,” said senior teammate Frankie Lukacs, “has such a positive personality.”

And he’s positively creative. Looking to admire or buy a teacup, produced by a gifted teen?

Or a teapot?

Where there’s Will, there’s often a wheel – a pottery wheel.

“I’ve seen his work; Will’s in that (art) room at school, a lot,” said Falconer. “His work is nice. He’s good, really good. What he makes usually looks like it was done by a professional.

“He’s pretty much a professional now.”

But as a swimmer, he’s still a rapid amateur for the Mustangs, with several super chances to tweak a few neck muscles at state this weekend — while bowing for medals.

Significant medals.

“I’m pumped for the relays; we’re all pumped for this weekend,” Davidson said. “We’re easygoing guys, sure. Guys who like to have fun. But we also get serious when we need to get serious.

“We have faith, a lot of faith, in ourselves.”

Win one for the Tigger, Will.