ASHLAND, Ohio — For Ryan Deemer, longer is definitely better.

The Butler graduate and Ashland (Ohio) University freshman won the 500-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle events at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Swimming Championships recently.

He was named GLIAC Freshman of the Year for his efforts.

“Ryan had not really tried the longer events before,” Ashland coach Derick Roe said. “It’s something we asked him to do and he’s simply excelled at it.”

Deemer also placed fourth in the mile freestyle and 10th in the 200 freestyle during the GLIAC meet.

“I definitely found that the longer the races, the better I’ll do,” Deemer said. “It looks like I’ve found a home in that regard.”

Deemer has always been a solid swimmer.

He placed fifth at the WPIAL meet in the 200 and 500 freestyle during his junior year at Butler.

He is majoring in geology and political science at Ashland.

“There’s a family type of team structure here and academically, this school fits in terms of my major,” Deemer said. “This is the place I want to be.

“I’m confident in my abilities. I’m confident I can accomplish some big things in this program.”

He already has.

Deemer won the 500 free with a time of four minutes, 36.72 seconds. But in the 1,000, he only finished eighth in the preliminaries with a time of 9:58.14.

He shaved 34 seconds off that time in the finals, winning the event in 9:24.61. That is the fastest time posted in the 1,000 free by any GLIAC swimmer this season.

“I knew he would take to the distance events, but Ryan adjusted and performed at a high level sooner than I thought he would,” Roe said. “He’s impressed me, without a doubt.

“His dedication and work ethic toward this sport are his biggest strengths. He’s tireless in the pool and in great condition. He does the little things right in terms of preparation.

“The sky’s the limit in what he may accomplish before he’s done here. Ryan is still on a learning curve in terms of adapting to longer distance swimming. This first season shows how good he is now and how much better he could get,” Roe added.

While Deemer hopes to get to the Division II national meet at some point, his long-range goals are modest.

“I’m happy to be able to contribute to the team,” he said. “All I want to do is swim as strong as I can, as fast as I can.

“I don’t have plans to stay in swimming after college. All I plan to do then is find work. But for now, I’m doing what I love to do.”

Roe is just happy Deemer’s doing it at Ashland.

“The way he’s embraced the challenge of swimming longer distances than he’s been accustomed to has been fun to watch,” the coach said. “This is my first season as coach here, so I wasn’t involved in Ryan’s recruiting at all.

“But I could see from the first week of training, we’ve got something special in that kid.”