Brent Lang

Michigan Experience Leads to Olympic Gold

Brent Lang (B.S.E. in I.O.E., 1990) graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan and was a four-time NCAA national champion at Michigan, capturing two titles in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle. He set a school record in the 50 freestyle that stood for 23 years. Brent collected six Big Ten Championships and was an All-American all four seasons. He also helped lead the team to four straight Big Ten titles. As a member of the 1988 United States Olympic team, Lang won a gold medal as a member of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay in Seoul, South Korea. He was presented with the NCAA's prestigious Silver Anniversary Award, given annually to six outstanding former student-athletes based on success in athletics and on a professional level.

Lang was one of the initial leaders of Vocera, a leading platform in digital care coordination and communication. He served as CEO from 2013 until it was purchased by Stryker in 2022. We spoke with Brent about what Michigan Athletics means to him, and why he chooses to give back now as an alumnus.

What about your Michigan education did you value?

"Being a student at the University of Michigan broadened my world view. I grew up in Oregon and had never spent time in the Midwest before visiting Michigan on my recruiting trip. There is such a diversity of students and ideas at Michigan, which made college an eye-opening experience that broadened my perspective and horizons. I received an engineering degree, but I worked in business consulting after graduating. Attending the University of Michigan allowed me to see a wide range of opportunities available to me."

What do you feel was your greatest success as a student-athlete?

"To some extent, being a student-athlete was my greatest success. Being able to balance being an Olympic-caliber athlete with the academic rigors of an engineering degree was a challenging but rewarding experience, and I am proud of the success I had both in the classroom and the pool."

What is a favorite memory you have from your time on the swimming and diving team?

"My favorite memory from my time on the swim team is when Michigan hosted the Stanford men's swimming and diving team for a dual meet in the old Matt Mann Pool (in Cliff Keen Arena). Stanford was the defending national champion at the time, but the Ann Arbor community came out in droves and packed the stands. The first relay of the meet was the 4x100 medley which Michigan won and the crowd went crazy, and Michigan went on to win the meet! I'll never forget the energy on campus, and I would say that in some ways, this dual meet was more exciting than swimming at the Olympics."

How did swimming at Michigan help you to become an Olympic athlete?

"Michigan was instrumental in helping me to become an Olympic gold medalist. I was recruited to Michigan as a national caliber swimmer, but the Michigan coaching staff helped build me to become an Olympic caliber swimmer. I give a lot of credit to my coach, Jon Urbanchek, who not only coached me to become a better swimmer and better person, but also gave me the opportunity to try a new stroke. I was recruited to swim backstroke and butterfly at Michigan, but my sophomore year, after encouragement from my coach, I switched to sprint freestyle and won the NCAA championship in that event that year. Without this switch to freestyle at Michigan, I would never have been able to win a gold medal in the 4x100 free relay at the 1988 Olympics."

What about your experience at Michigan made you want to give back?

"Giving back is very important to me because I received a full scholarship to come swim at Michigan, and as an out-of-state student I would not have been able to attend Michigan without this scholarship. My experiences at Michigan were very meaningful, and I always knew that I wanted to give back to the program if I had the opportunity to do so. I wanted to honor my coach, Jon Urbanchek, so giving to the Jon Urbanchek Endowed Scholarship Fund was a great way to honor his legacy while supporting the future of the Michigan swimming program. It pays huge dividends to invest in student-athletes through scholarship funds, as every student-athlete goes into the world and does great things. I see giving back to Michigan Athletics as not only an investment in student-athletes, but also the future of the world."

What advice do you have for current Michigan student-athletes?

"I like to say that life is a marathon not a sprint. Student-athletes learn persistence and grit through balancing school and athletics, which becomes so important later on in life. It is normal to have ups and downs, but it is important not to get stuck in the moment and to always keep a positive attitude.

Another piece of advice that I live by is that it is never as good as it seems and never as bad as it seems. My junior year at Michigan, I returned to the NCAA Championships as the defending champion in the 100 free, but got disqualified for a false start. My coach could have yelled at me, but instead he gave me another chance to demonstrate my ability by leading off a relay. I always believe in giving people an opportunity to redeem themselves, which is a critical lesson that I have carried with me in my business career by giving people the opportunity to learn from their mistakes."