Eugene Godsoe
Eugene Godsoe is an American swimmer who specializes in the backstroke and butterfly events. In 2013, Godsoe has successfully competed at the Tokyo and Beijing FINA World Cup meets, as well as the FINA World Championships and Duel in the Pool, which pits Team USA versus Team Europe.
Personal Life
Godsoe was born to parents Gene and Yoko in Greensboro, North Carolina on January 20, 1988. Growing up in North Carolina, Godsoe swam on Greensboro Swimming Association under head coach Kevin Thornton and graduated from Southeast Guilford High School in 2006 as a four-time North Carolina state champion in each the 100-yard backstroke and butterfly. Godsoe achieved All-American status during each of his four years while ranking first in the 100-yard backstroke (48.76) and fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (48.47) nationally his senior season. Additionally, Godsoe ended his senior season as the number one 18-and-under high school swimmer in the 100-yard backstroke (47.99). Upon graduation, Godsoe matriculated to Stanford University and graduated in 2010 with a degree in political science with focuses on international relations and economics. Godsoe again relocated to North Carolina in order to train post-collegiately at SwimMAC under head coach David Marsh. In 2012, Godsoe returned to his alma mater to serve as an assistant coach and to train full-time as a member of the USA’s National Team after failing to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Team.
DJ EEGO
As of 2014 Godsoe had begun to delve further into his other talent — music. Godsoe is known by his alter ego, EEGO, when he’s DJ’ing outside of the pool. He’s known to release musical remixes before large meets, and in 2014 he even put in for a contest with his remix for Pierce Fulton’s Kuaga. The winner of the contest could have potentially moved forward with a music deal. He also made multiple headlines in 2015 with new releases for his songs.
College Swimming
In 2006-07, during his freshman season at Stanford, Godsoe earned performed admirably at his inaugural Pac-10 Championship swim meet. Godsoe contributed a fifth place in the 200-yard backstroke (1:45.17), 10th place in the 100-yard backstroke (49.44) and 16th in the 100-yard butterfly (49.11) to help the Cardinal win its 26th straight Pac-10 Team Championship. As a result of his performances, Godsoe earned a chance to compete at the NCAA Championships, where he finished 24th in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:44.45 seconds.
During his second season in 2007-08, Godsoe earned his first five All-America honors by finishing sixth in the 100-yard backstroke (46.80), seventh in the 200-yard backstroke (1:42.67) and participating on the fourth-place-finishing 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays as well as the third place 400-yard medley relay team. In the 200-yard freestyle relay Godsoe anchored with a split of 19.68 seconds, while he added splits of 21.93 seconds and 46.75 seconds in the 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays, respectively.
In 2008-09 as a junior, Godsoe added another five All-America honors and his first two individual Pac-10 titles (100-yard & 200-yard backstroke) to his resume. At the NCAA Championships, hosted in College Station, Texas, Godsoe placed 10th in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 45.99 seconds, becoming the fifth Stanford swimmer to break the 46 second barrier in the event. Additionally, Godsoe scored fifth place points in both the 100-yard backstroke (45.87) and 200-yard backstroke (1:40.05). Godsoe helped the Cardinal relays set new school records in the 200-yard and 400-yard medley relays, even setting the NCAA record in the 400-yard medley relay in the preliminaries until falling to eventual champion and record-holder, Auburn in the finals. Godsoe posted a lead-off leg of 45.49 seconds in the finals of the 400-yard medley relay, as the Cardinal ended up in third place behind Auburn University and University of California-Berkeley.
In his final season at Stanford, Godsoe earned six more All-America honors, totaling sixteen over the course of his career, and added two more Pac-10 championships in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke events for a total of four. At the NCAA Championships, Godsoe had his best showing yet, placing in the top three of his individual events. Godsoe finished third place in the 100-yard butterfly (45.96) as well as the 200-yard backstroke (1:40.07), while winning his first NCAA title in the 100-yard backstroke (45.11). In the 400-yard medley relay, Godsoe helped Stanford earn a third place finish while setting a new school record with a time of 44.93 seconds as the lead-off leg. Additionally, Godsoe helped the Cardinal finish fourth in the 200-yard medley relay with a lead-off time of 21.11 seconds and third in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a split of 42.92 seconds as the second leg.
National and International Swimming
Godsoe began his international swimming experience in 2005-06 as a member of the Junior National Team, competing in Melbourne, Australia at the 2006 World Junior Swimming Championships. Next, Godsoe competed in the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska where he placed 13th in the 100-meter backstroke and 14th in the 200-meter backstroke. Godsoe also finished 40th in the 100-meter butterfly and 66th in the 100-meter freestyle.
In 2009, Godsoe was selected to compete for Team USA at the World University Games held in Belgrade, Serbia. In the 100-meter backstroke, Godsoe tied for 12th place with a time of 55.56 seconds while also finishing in 13th place in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:02.94 seconds.
In 2011, Godsoe finished fourth in the 100-meter butterfly and fifth in the 100-meter backstroke at the ConocoPhillips National Championships. As a result, Godsoe earned a spot on the U.S. National Team and performed at the Pan American Games in multiple individual and relay events. While at the Games, Godsoe earned four silver medals – one for each of his events. In the 100-meter butterfly, Godsoe came in second after Venezuela’s Albert Subirats (52.37) with a time of 52.67 seconds and he followed Brazil’s Thiago Pereira (54.56) with a time of 54.61 seconds. In the 4×100-meter medley relay, Godsoe contributed a split of 54.80 seconds as the backstroke leg in the finals. Finally, Godsoe also added a split of 49.90 seconds in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
In 2012, Godsoe competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials, but failed to qualify for the Olympic team by placing fifth in the 100-meter backstroke, seventh in the 100-meter butterfly and 25th in the 100-meter freestyle.
In 2013, Godsoe broke out for a busy year. After earning first place finishes in the 50-meter and 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. National Championships, Godsoe earned a chance to compete at the World Short Course Championships in Barcelona, Spain. As the top butterfly representative of the United States at that competition, he scored second place points in the 50-meter butterfly with a time of 23.05 seconds as well as an 11th place finish in the 100-meter butterfly. Later in the year, Godsoe competed at several World Cup meets where he took home gold in eight of nine backstroke races in Singapore, Beijing and Japan. Toward the end of 2013, Godsoe represented the United States in the Duel in the Pool, finishing first in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 1:52.14 as well as first in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 50.08 seconds. Additionally, Godsoe helped the Americans to a first place finish in the 4×100-meter medley relay as the team’s backstroke leg, and he was part of the World-Record breaking 4x50meter mixed medley relay that gave the United States the victory in the overall competition. Godsoe teamed with Kevin Cordes, Claire Donahue and Simone Manuel to beat the European All-Star relay team with a time of 1:31.17 seconds.
By Dec. 2014 Godsoe was officially on the top of his game. Along with Caitlin Leverenz, Natalie Coughlin and Matt Grevers, Godsoe was selected as a team captain going into the 2014 World Short Course Championships in Doha.
After Matt Mclean suffered a shoulder injury and dropped from the 2015 World Championship roster, there was a ripple effect that changed the roster for the Pan American Games. Godsoe was added to the roster for Pan Am’s, in which he was added for the 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly.
Originally developed by Doug Lennox II