Jackson Kogler, senior captain of the swim team, won two state championship races on March 8, the 200-meter individual medley and the 100-meter backstroke. Kogler now holds two state records for those races and the school’s records for those two races. Kogler has been swimming for around 13-14 years, swimming all year round. Kogler attributes all his swimming credit to his mom as she is the one who supported him and encouraged him to start swimming.
At the start of the swimming season, Kogler was ranked fourth in the state. At the end of last season, Kogler and head coach Brian Luke had many discussions about his potential for the upcoming season. With Kogler’s junior year ending closely with him and his coaches’ goals, his senior year was in full swing to reach these goals.
“I knew there were going to be two to three guys who were going to be my hardest competition. With me getting second in the state last year, I always had the one kid I was nervous to go up against,” Kogler said.
Winning a state championship is hard in general no matter what sport it is. Kogler was not only able to win a state championship, but he also set the state record. The amount of hard work and dedication being put into Kogler’s training takes more than just physical strength. The mental side of sports and training is the hardest part to overcome by constantly being tired and wanting to go home. Being able to fight through and finish, the training is worth the effort.
“My brother has put in so much hard work to achieve what he has accomplished, there have been days when he has come home from practice and fallen asleep right away. No matter how tired and how sore he would always go to practice,” junior Will Kogler said.
Practices normally last around two and a half hours. Luke likes a certain number of yards to be swam at every practice. Kogler has to swim around 7,000 yards every practice, which adds up to around 280 laps a day in the pool. This intense routine helps put Kogler in great shape and improving overall performance in races. Even though the long distance, Kogler continues to push through and compete, knowing these practices are bringing him closer and closer to his goals.
“Our coach likes to set a certain number of yards at the beginning of practices, which normally would be around 7,000 yards a practice,” Kogler said.
Kogler had an amazing season with the accolades and records being set, but it is not just about the result. It was the journey and the amount of work he put in to reach his goals.
