Cambridge, Mass. (September 4) -- As part of a series that will take part throughout the 2020 fall semester, the Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation (DAPER) will be featuring a number of head coaches and DAPER staff members. The third installment of this series features water polo head coach /physical education and wellness instructor Austin Ringheim, who enters his second season at MIT in 2020-21.
As part of each feature, we have included a written question and answer session, along with a video interview where recruits, alumni, fans and others can learn more about the program and MIT. If you can't currently visit MIT, we will bring MIT to you!
Q: What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
A: I really enjoy watching Basketball. I grew up on watching Kobe & Shaq! There are also a ton of similarities between basketball and water polo that I can watch and try to emulate.
Q: What is your favorite sports team?
A: My favorite sports team is the Los Angeles Lakers. Some of my first childhood sports memories come from following the Lakers Championship runs!
Q: If you were not coaching what kind of career would you have liked?
A: If I were not coaching I would have liked to be a teacher. Teaching is my true passion - I feel fortunate that I get to do both in my current role on campus! Aside from teaching I would want to pursue a career in fire.
Q: What sports did you play growing up?
A: I grew up playing most sports. I tried to be outside as much as possible as a kid. I got baseball, basketball, and even played hockey for a few years. I started playing water polo in seventh grade and played that full time from then on.
Q: Have you started watching anything new in particular on TV since MIT moved to remote learning in March?
A: Most definitely. I am sure like most I watched the Tiger King early on. I most recently started watching the Peaky Blinders.
Q: What was your most memorable college experience?
A: My most memorable college experience was participating in a DI NCAA Championship play in game with my DIII Water Polo team. Before we had our DIII championships the conference I played in had a spot in our championship tournament. We played University of Southern California at USC. It was one of the best experiences I have had.
Q: If you had to make a playlist of music what would be the top three songs on it?
A: My musical taste has a wide range so these three songs will be a little random but Badfish by Sublime, TNT by AC/DC and Should've been a Cowboy by Toby Keith.
Q: If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world where would it be?
A: If I could go anywhere I would want to go vacation is Croatia. I would love to get out there and check out everything it has to offer. I got in to Game of Thrones so I would love to get to Dubrovnik some day.
