The words “Bowerman’s Curve” have echoed through Hayward Field during multiple races in the Olympic Trials. When heard, spectators know to look at the last 100 meters, so they could be sure to see Nick Symmonds lead the 800-meter finals to the finish or watch Lopez Lomong and Bernard Lagat run the trail end of the 5,000-meter semis perfectly in sync.
The term “Bowerman’s Curve” was coined by Paul Swangard, the same man whose voice still fills the stadium of Hayward letting you know where to look and when so you don’t miss the best action.
“The challenge of this environment is, in most cases, there are multiple things going on at the same time, and you’re really trying to make sure that no fan who is in here will miss anything because they are looking the wrong direction,” Swangard said.
When the men’s javelin finals, the women’s triple jump finals, the men’s pole vault qualifying round and the women’s 5,000 meters were all happening at the same time, he had to pay attention to all of them.
“In the booth, it’s controlled chaos,” he said. “Hopefully, what the people out in the stands don’t realize is how much chaos it actually takes to offer a smooth call of a race.”
Every event involves finding the right statistics and records. It involves knowing which athletes have made the Olympic “A” standard and which athletes are almost there. It involves knowing who each athlete is.
“You try to keep track of what you say, and you always find yourself inevitably pronouncing an athlete’s name wrong or misidentifying an athlete on the track,” he said.
The challenges never go away. Athletes with last names such as Bumbalough and Ufodiama continue to compete. But, after 17 years of being the voice of Hayward, Swangard has found out some tricks.
“(It) takes a lot of research and understanding of the sport,” he said.
A Eugene native, Swangard graduated from South Eugene High School and walked on as a sprinter at the University of Oregon. He had several jobs at local radio and TV shows, such as KEZI. When former Hayward announcer Wendy Ray retired, Swangard decided to try out for the job.
Now, he announces meets at Hayward when not at his day job as the managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, which is in the Lundquist College of Business at the UO.
“It’s a wonderful environment here,” he said. “So many of the people who are here don’t often come to track meets. I hope, as a big fan of the sport, that we create an environment that people want to come back to again and again.”