One step into Fritz Hagerman's basement office in Irvine Hall reveals his long history with a wide variety of sports.
Posters of long-past Olympics hang in the hallway leading to the 75-year-old's workplace. Farther down the passageway, a laboratory full of stationary bikes, rowing machines, a life-size poster of a Florida Marlin and a Cincinnati Reds 1990 World Series banner all come into eye sight.
Photos of baseball players whom Hagerman, a retired OU professor for exercise physiology, worked with decorate his office as a reminder of the World Series' he won with the Marlins and Reds.
A replica version of the Reds' championship trophy sits atop a cabinet, and he also has a World Series ring from his days with the Marlins.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate the experiences I've been given and the opportunities I've had
professionally and personally Hagerman said.
Hagerman studied all of the baseball players, NASCAR drivers and Olympic athletes seen in pictures throughout his office.
Besides teaching at Ohio since 1967, Hagerman has traveled from continent to continent testing the finest athletes in the world.
It all started after Hagerman earned his master's degree in exercise physiology at Ohio State and then took a teaching job in New Zealand.
Many of the world's best distance runners lived in New Zealand. Hagerman wasted no time in testing their aerobic fitness and muscle power. He caught a break when some rowers in the area asked if he could get similar data on them.
I've had these wonderful experiences that have all grown out of my interest in working with runners way back in the '60s Hagerman said. By accident
by luck and good fortune
I started working with rowers.
Hagerman was asked to help select the rowers who would compete for the New Zealand team in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
We did a selection process by testing their oxygen consumption
looking at muscle responses
heart rate
cardiovascular
Hagerman said. The kinds of things you look for when a person runs on a treadmill and gets a fitness test.
The U.S. rowing team noticed his work for New Zealand and asked Hagerman to help select its team.
Hagerman also became a member of the Medical Commission for international rowing, which he served on from 1979 to 2004, including 10 years as chairman.
His job was to supervise drug testing and the development of medical facilities for all international regattas, including the Olympics.
Some of my work has been in the science of cheating
Hagerman said.
The Medical Commission was the first group to do out-of-competition drug testing, he said. Hagerman would give a team 24 hours notice before he arrived to test the athletes.
Hagerman rarely found rowers who tested positive. His colleagues in track and field, however, caught star runners such as Marion Jones.
Hagerman has tested professional rowers for 42 years now. He's attended every Summer Olympics since Mexico City in 1968.
Of course, Hagerman branched out into other sports. His wife, Marjorie, a retired professor of foods and nutrition at Ohio, often joined him.
Hagerman worked for the Reds from 1977 until the Marlins' inaugural season in 1993. He consulted with Florida until he retired in 2004.
I have to admit
the best seat in the house is in the dugout
