Gaston Sports Hall of Fame: Here's why Chuck Niemeyer compares himself to 'Forrest Gump'

When Chuck Niemeyer's swimming career began in Gastonia in the mid-1970s, he had no idea the sport would last as long as it has for him – or land him in his hometown Hall of Fame.

But Niemeyer's determination, talent and work ethic drove him to excellence in high school, college, national competition and currently as a 55-year-old masters competitor.

Part of the 2023 Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame induction class, his current job as a physician assistant has taken him to many sporting events and even overseas in the service of the United States military.

Given what he's been exposed to in his life, Niemeyer compares himself to an award-winning fictional movie character portrayed by Tom Hanks.

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"I feel like I'm a lot like Forrest Gump," Niemeyer said of the 1994 film, in which Gump leaves his rural Alabama upbringing to travel the world and be involved with historic events in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. "You know, I've been blessed to have a lot of amazing live experiences through my swimming career, having been in the military and seen an awful lot of stuff."

Niemeyer was an honored swimmer at Ashbrook High School, N.C. State University and for U.S. Swimming and has been involved in sports medicine in Atlanta, Greenville, N.C., and Gastonia in addition to being deployed to Kuwait and Iraq for the U.S. Naval Reserve Service Corps.

Well travelled in his youth since his father Charles had worked for the Air Force, Niemeyer arrived in Gastonia in 1974 and soon began participating in the sport for which he is known.

At age 8, he participated in the Gastonia summer league at Southampton Racquet Club, trained at the Gastonia YMCA under 2021 GCSHOF inductee Charlotte Whitesides and competed for the Gaston Gators.

After shining as a freshman at Ashbrook, he was coached Charlotte's Johnston Memorial YMCA by the legendary Franke Bell - a 2022 American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Hall of Fame inductee.

With his skill level improving, Niemeyer was a recruited walk-on for another legendary coach at N.C. State.

Don Easterling is a 2016 inductee of the Wolfpack Athletic Hall of Fame and one of the winningest coaches in ACC history. In his 23 seasons, his teams won 17 ACC titles (15 men, 2 women) and had a career record of 328-118. He coached 40 All-Americans and seven Olympians.

One of Easterling's swimmers, Bruce Stein, also swam for Bell. And Stein's recommendation led Easterling to offer Niemeyer a roster spot after he graduated from Ashbrook in 1985.

"At State, I was a terrified freshman," Niemeyer said. "At Ashbrook, my mom (Carolyn) was the coach. I would say the coaches that recruited me thought of me as a diamond in the rough. But I had a lot of drive.

"Easterling was a coach a lot of people either loved or hated. A lot of people didn't like him. But he motivated me. He was a blood and guts coach who had ACC championships and was very feared."

After earning All-ACC honors as a freshman in 1986, Easterling awarded Niemeyer some scholarship money. He also grew to respect Niemeyer as one of his top swimmers in his storied coaching history.

"I've coached two Olympic gold medalists and one Olympic silver medalist in the butterfly," Easterling once told the media. "And I feel qualified to compare Chuck Niemeyer to the Olympic medalists."

At N.C. State, Niemeyer was a four-time All-ACC selection, a two-time ACC 100 butterfly and 400 medley relay champion and a two-time team captain.

"Easterling was a master of stroke technique, which was good for me," Niemeyer said. "I was fortunate enough to do pretty well in the ACC Championships I competed in."

Niemeyer competed in the Pan American swimming trials in 1987 and 1988 and for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team trials. His first brush with Team USA came in 1984, when he qualified for a regional competition in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

"That was the year the Alabama coach Don Gambril was the coach of the Olympic team," Niemeyer said . "When I went down there and won the 100-meter butterfly, I started thinking, 'Maybe I should have higher aspirations.'"

A 1989 N.C. State graduate in zoology, Niemeyer got a master's degree from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. He met his wife, the former Bridget Branch of Greenville, N.C., in Durham and their two sons attended Ashbrook - 26-year-old John and 21-year-old William.

In 2000, he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve Medical Service Corps.

In 2004, he returned to Gastonia and joined an orthopaedic practice with his father while also being involved in several community project: Annual physical examinations for Gaston County Schools and Gaston College athletes; medical service for Ashbrook High home football games; announcing Ashbrook High soccer games; serving as a medical liaison for the Gastonia City Police SWAT team; and being a past board chair at Gastonia's Schiele Museum.

He's also involved in helping getting a swimming facility built in Dallas, near Gaston College.

"You know, we moved back to Gastonia because we wanted to participate in the community because we believe in the community," Niemeyer said. "I'm not the type of person who can sit around and dwell here. I've got to be involved."

That still includes swimming – in 2016, he qualified for the National Masters championships.

"Swimmers are so competitive and it's also fun," Niemeyer said. "I'm 55 now and sometimes I'm swimming in a lane beside somebody who's 30. But I'm still trying to beat that 30-year-old.

"We have a bunch of professionals – school teachers, doctors, lawyers – but when you're in the pool, you're all the same."

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gaston County Sports Hall of Fame: Chuck Niemeyer