JOHN HESSLER

Swimming has always had a special place in my heart and has been a pivotal part of my life since I can remember. As a kid, I played every sport; football, baseball, soccer, basketball, swimming, and even junior golf. Something about swimming just hit me. I was drawn to the challenges of practice, the duality of the individualism of the sport and the nature of the team. The constant (benchmarkable) improvement in times as I progressed allowed me to have a quantifiable measure of my efforts so I knew that they were not wasted. Other sports seemed to me to be “fun”, while swimming was my “job”. I took this very seriously throughout my entire childhood and into my early adult years.

My entire extended family followed suit, doing summer swim team with me for years. I can remember times where there would be 8, 9, 10 of my family members swimming in summer meets. This was a special experience that I can still reminisce on and talk about with them.

I went to Saint Ignatius High School where I was a Varsity swimmer for all 4 years. This time was arguably the most formative experience in my life. I learned about effort, attitude, hard work, winning, and (more importantly) losing. I bring these learnings with me and try to relay them to my students to make them the best swimmers and people that they can be. Swimming is more than an activity or a sport, it is a Liquid Lifestyle!