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Stephen Bayuk underwent a transformation from being a good contributor on the men’s swimming team his first two years at Wooster to one of the best freestyle sprinters across NCAA Div. III, racking up nine All-American awards, which ties for the third-most in program history.
“Steve was an extremely hard working and focused swimmer,” recalled Keith Beckett, Wooster’s current athletic director and former swim coach. “He was very coachable, always asking what else he could do to improve. His achievements and improvements were incredible and a credit to his commitment and hard work.”
Maybe good isn’t a strong enough adjective to describe Bayuk’s initial contributions to the team. He was part of two all-North Coast Athletic Conference and school-record relay teams as a freshman, leading off the 200 free relay (1:25.79) and the 400 free relay (3:12.07), but his top time in the 50 free (21.70) hardly portended what was to come.
Bayuk’s sophomore season was similar. He helped reset Wooster’s 200 and 400 free relay records to 1:24.43 and 3:08.13 and was part of the 400 free relay that took third in the conference for another all-NCAC citation. Still, there was little sign of a future All-American.
Through constant hard work and technique adjustments, things started clicking for Bayuk as a junior. While those closely following the program saw his progress in early-season meets, he really started to gain notoriety at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, where he sprinted to a time of 21.22 in the 50 free, just about three-tenths of a second off the pace of the eventual national champion in that event.
Bayuk’s debut on the national stage was impressive. He led off the fourth-place 200 free relay team (1:23.26) and the 11th-place 400 free relay (3:08.43), anchored the 800 free team, which took 16th (7:17.14), and individually, he was 11th in the 50 free (20.85). As a team, Wooster finished in 15th-place at the 1999 NCAA Div. III Swimming and Diving Championships.
Not satisfied, Bayuk continued to chip away at his personal-best times and was even stronger for his senior season. The Scots improved on their national team finish to 11th-place, thanks in large part to Bayuk, who led off two top-five relays – the third-place 200 free (1:23.22) and fifth-place 400 free (3:06.88) – and qualified for the NCAA championship heat in the 50 free with a 20.80 time. He wound up fifth in that event (20.88) and added an 11th-place in the 100 free (46.55).
Beckett added, “Steve was a dynamic leader. He was the true impetus and key motivator that helped propel the relays to the achievements they obtained during his junior and senior years.”
Bayuk, who remains the school’s second-fastest performer in both the 50 and 100 free, has had an equally successful post-Wooster career. He is currently a general surgeon for Garrett Surgical Group, located in Oakland, Maryland, the western part of the state. Bayuk specializes in single incision laparoscopic surgery.
To get to that position, Bayuk completed a D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy) degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, then a five-year residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Farrell, Pa., location). Since Aug. 2011, he has been with the Garrett Surgical Group.