As celebrated an athlete as Tim Dwight is, when he signed up to compete in 17 different Iowa Games events in a single weekend, he was sure he would discover some weaknesses.

As he played in the 2011 Iowa Games table tennis tournament, he quickly verified this assumption.

“That was brutal. There were some really good players and it’s been awhile since I’ve played table tennis,” Dwight said. “But it wouldn’t have mattered. Those guys were just toying with me.”

Dwight competed in the beginner-level singles division, but was eliminated from pool play 20 minutes after he began it.

The former Iowa Hawkeye football star and 10-year NFL veteran wasn’t even shown mercy by his Hawkeye-loving competitor, Brian Fleshner

“I had to win. My brother wouldn’t have let me hear the end of it if I had lost,” Fleshner said. “I know this is the only sport I could beat him in, so I’m pretty happy.”

The two played played a best-of-three, with Fleshner quickly dispatching Dwight in both games.

“I think he did go a little easy on me but then he started hitting a little faster, and I couldn’t keep up,” Dwight said.

To Fleshner, the outcome was not as important as the simple fact that he was able to meet one of his childhood idols.

“It was pretty exciting, because I was a young kid when he was playing at Iowa, and we went to games a lot,” Fleshner said. “I was a little nervous, but I saw him warm up and I knew I’d be all right. I just think it’s really neat that he’s doing 25 events, and I think it’s going to inspire a lot of people to do more with the Iowa Games.”

Although Dwight fared poorly in table tennis, he did find success in other events this weekend.

The Iowa City native took second place in his 35 to 39-year-old age division of the men’s 4K cross country race.

In track events, which were held at Ames High School, Dwight took first place in the long jump with an age-division-leading 18-foot-8 jump. Dwight also placed third in the 200-meter dash, clocking a time of 25.21 seconds.

In field events, he took third in shot put with a throw of 30 feet and 7 inches, and third in discus with an 84-foot throw.

Dwight will finish the last of his 25 events next Saturday when he competes in flag football, sand volleyball, soccer and dodgeball.