“They came out in force to see my play,” Lawler says. “A bunch of them came back a second time.”

Did the actors in “Genie” start coming to his swim meets?

“Uh, no,” Lawler says. “But they should.”

Abraham Riesman, who played Larny Sumptius, the wacky university president only slightly inspired by Harvard’s own, offers an explanation for the lack of actor-athlete interaction.

“Theatre people aren’t supposed to mingle with the strong members of our species,” he jokes.

But Brock the Jock, O’Tooley’s flamboyant football-playing roommate, demonstrated Lawler’s ability to poke fun at athletes. Luckily, the droll portrayal of a sportsman didn’t reduce the team’s enjoyment of the show.

“We all saw his play and it was hilarious,” says Quinn.

While his fellow swimmers knew about his dramatic endeavors, the musical’s cast and crew claim to have been in the dark about their playwright’s aquatic talents.

“Near the end of the rehearsal process, he mentioned that his ‘team’ was coming to the show, and that his ‘coach’ was really excited,” says Riesman. “The vast majority of the cast didn’t have the slightest clue that he was a swimmer.”

BEHIND THE MUSICAL

While Lawler had been interested in screenwriting for some time, musical theatre didn’t cross his mind until last year.

During his time off, Lawler saw some Broadway musicals—his favorites include Fiddler on the Roof, Hairspray, and Into the Woods—and was inspired to try his hand at penning one of his own.

“I wanted to write a musical,” he says. “I thought it would be fun.”

And so Lawler began “Genie” during his training for the Olympic trials.

“I came up with a lot of the lines for the show while I was swimming,” he says.