Naperville Olympian gives goal-setting advice at elementary alma mater

White Eagle Elementary fifth graders Nikki Demetris and Mason Szewczyk now can say they've interviewed an Olympian.

Gold medalist and swimmer Kevin Cordes of Naperville returned Wednesday to his elementary alma mater to high-five adoring students, greet former teachers and answer student council members' questions about collaboration and goal-setting.

Nikki and Mason got to pose the questions, asking the 23-year-old breaststroker about his earliest memories of White Eagle and his path to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last month.

Cordes told them he started swimming at age 6 on the White Eagle subdivision team and got serious about the sport during his sophomore year of high school. In his first Olympics, he helped the U.S. win 4X100-meter medley relay gold by swimming breaststroke in the preliminaries, but he didn't medal in his individual events. Cordes placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke and eighth in the 200 breaststroke.

In elementary school from 1998 to 2004, Cordes said he remembers learning the fight song right away as a kindergartner.

"I went around all day singing it to my parents," he said.

And for the big questions about working together and achieving goals, Cordes gave advice from his experience on the swim team at the University of Arizona, where he said he has one semester remaining to get a degree in finance.

"We do a lot of peer coaching," Cordes said. "People are really selfless, so we want to help each other whenever we can."

He advised students to break down each big goal - like his aspiration to swim in the 2020 Olympics - into smaller goals along the way, like doing well at the world championships next year.

The White Eagle visit is one of many public appearances Cordes is making after returning from Brazil. He was recognized earlier this month by the Naperville City Council, and at 9 a.m. Saturday, he is scheduled to be the starter for the Run for the Mind 5K at St. James Farm forest preserve near Warrenville to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness in DuPage County.