BRENDAN T. DEVENEY, ‘13: Swimming, startups, and electronic music
Deveney finds focusing on many interests allows him to maintain a balanced life
Lauren Lo
There is much more to junior Brendan T. Deveney than meets the eye. On the surface, he is merely a swimming phenomenon. Just a few weeks ago he helped lead the MIT Men’s Swimming Team to a fourth-place finish at the National Championships, placing 5th in the 200-yard individual medley. In an exclusive interview with the Tech, Deveny revealed that his talents in the pool are only the tip of the iceberg, and that he is an incredibly well-rounded individual.
The Tech: What are you studying?
Brendan T. Deveney: Chemistry, and hopefully adding physics.
TT: How do you balance school and sports and social life?
BTD: Having multiple interests and being able to focus on different pursuits at different times and interact with a wide range of people in the process is something I find rewarding and personally beneficial, and I think it’s exactly in maintaining my interests that I’m able to achieve balance in my life.
TT: What do you like about swimming?
BTD: I really enjoy racing and competing, and working hard in practice, in general, tends to be a pretty rewarding experience. The primary reason that I swim, though, is the team. There’s nothing like it and I sometimes wish I was a freshman again just to be a part of the team and with the swimmers on it that much longer.
TT: Have you every played any other sports?
BTD: I played water polo and rowed in high school, and I played water polo with MIT this past year.
TT: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
BTD: There are a lot of things I like to do in my free time, but in particular I like catching up with my brother, who’s a freshman at Amherst, and my sister, who’s still in high school.
TT: What kind of music do you listen to?
BTD: I really enjoy electronic dance music and a couple friends and I recently created a student group on campus, Electronic Dance Music Society, catered to that interest.
TT: What do you want to do after MIT?
BTD: I’m unsure, though I’m working on a startup as part of the Swager Lab (where I’m UROPing) that I may be able to pursue after MIT.
TT: What do you do with the EDM Society?
BTD: We just started up, but we’re hoping to do a couple things with the EDM Society. Our main focus is to host a series of EDM charity benefit concerts and the best electronic dance parties on campus. We’re working now toward hosting our first event during CPW. Aside from the philanthropic mission, we plan to organize trips to EDM events, festivals, and clubs in the area while generally offering opportunities for aficianados and enthusiasts to share in what they love. Ultimately, we hope to be able to bring some world-class DJs onto campus, but in the meanwhile, we’re working on a number of cool ideas, so stay tuned.
TT: If you could be any kind of animal what would you be?
BTD: Emperor tamarin, for the moustache.