Coming into Freshman swim season, Logan Eaton-Strong got a seat on the Varsity team; putting him in a league of his own. The coaches knew that Eaton-Strong was a hard worker as they have coached his brother, Senior Cameron Eaton-Strong, who has overcome injury after injury.
After getting his shot on Varsity, he quickly got to work to make a name for himself in the 500 free. He has a personal best of 4:54.01 and, at his age, this only leaves room to improve. His ability to maintain a rapid pace over a long period is an ability many swimmers wish they had. Now in his second year on the team, he looks to continue to dominate in the pool.
A common stereotype is that people who have talent like Eaton-Strong are expected to have aggressive goals, but Logan believes in his mental side rather than physical numbers.
“My ultimate goal is to leave high school knowing that I put everything I had into every single practice and every single swim meet, and knowing that I left everything on the floor no matter what happens afterward.
Unfortunately, Eaton-Strong’s goal will have to be put on hold, as a stress sprain in his back will sideline him for the rest of the season. This came at an unfortunate time as ETHS doesn’t have many swimmers who can compete in the 500 free at Eaton-Strongs level.
“The worst part about being injured is not being able to get in the water or talk with my teammates about what happened in practice and experience and go through the pain of practice with them,” said Eaton-Strong.
When Logan is in the water, he lives for the pain of practice. The grit that he has built through the countless sets that his coaches put him through, shows when it comes meet time. Eaton-Strong not only performs on the block but also at practice. This is an attitude that stars need.
As for Eaton-Strongs teammates; Maxton and Hunter, he has nothing but respect for them.
“I’m always happy whenever all my teammates do good, but knowing that those two will always be there to push me and support me is really special. Also, knowing that at the end of the day, I can go out there and race them really drives me,” states Eaton Strong.
The hype around Hunter Kleinshmidt as he entered his Freshman season on the team was real. The times he was producing in the offseason were jaw-dropping and proved that he was a force to be reckoned with. His brother, Junior, Will Kleinshmidt, was already showing success in the pool, so head coach Kevin Auger was pleased to have another Kleinshmidt on the team.
“Hunter has a really good attitude about swimming in general and this is especially present on game day,” stated Auger.
In Hunter’s first year on the swim team, he backed up the hype…and then some, as he smashed multiple records. Kleinshmidt was part of the team that broke the 400-freely and 200-freely records and then decided two wasn’t enough so he decided to take the 50-back record. As he enters his second year on the swim team, he looks to build off his historic Freshman year.
Compared to his teammates, Hunter started swimming later, but that didn’t stop him from quickly catching up. After starting swim lessons at the age of six, he quickly moved onto the swim team and currently swims for NASA in the offseason.
During tough practices, Kleinshmidt keeps his friends and teammates at the forefront. He believes that people are the key to pushing past physical and mental barriers.
“My teammates get me through tough times. Maxton and Jonas are big shots and really push me to my absolute limit every day,” said Kleinshmidt.
Although swimming is important to Kleinshmidt, school and his friends are just as significant. His head coach, Kevin Auger, uses a big rock-little rock metaphor and Kleinshmidt takes it to heart. He believes that family, school, and swimming are his big rocks and require the most attention.
When it comes to Kleinshmidt’s ultimate goal, he has one thing on his mind; winning. It takes a winning mentality to become the best and Kleinsmidt fits this personnel perfectly.
Even though Kleinshmidt has a competitive drive to outperform teammates Eaton-Strong and Pomykalski, he believes that the most important thing is pushing each other as a team.
“Pushing yourself helps you achieve your goals. I think one of our team’s goals is to go as fast as possible and having teammates that help you do that is something that is very important,” said Kleinshmidt.
Unlike teammates Eaton-Strong and Kleinshmidt, Maxton Pomykalski was acquainted with his fellow varsity teammates before starting his first year of high school swim. Being on the ETHS club team, WSO, allowed Pomykalski to get comfortable being around the teammates and coaches he would have in winter. This allowed Pomykalski to forge relationships and show head coach Kevin Auger what he was made of.
“Maxton, he can pretty much do everything. He has a quiet confidence that gives him the ability to rise up and win races. He’s the definition of a racer,” said Auger.
As Pomykalski enters his second year of high school, his goals are clear; make it to state.
“I really want to make it to state and ideally win. Obviously this is going to be very hard and take a lot of work, but is my end goal for my swimming career,” stated Pomykalski.
Pomykalski was born to swim, literally. At the age of one, his parents found out he could naturally swim. When he was three, they decided they wanted to strengthen his skills and signed him up for swim lessons at the YMCA. Only one year later he was moved up to the swim team and at the age of five he switched to WSO to start taking swimming seriously.
In Pomykalski’s first year on the team, he made sure his name was heard around high school swimming. He was the anchor of the team that broke the 400-freelay. This is the same race that stunned New Trier in a come-from-behind victory in Freshman Conference.
When it comes to coaching, Pomykalski believes that his coaches treat him differently than others.
“They definitely hold me to a very high standard, knowing my skill level. They know how fast I can go in practice and in meets. This type of motivation definitely helps me push forward through all the tough times and practices,” said Pomykalski.
It is known knowledge that swimming is one of the most physically demanding sports out there but what hides under the shadows is the mental challenge of it. The amount of training it takes to be at peak performance can take a toll on people’s mental state. As for Pomykalski’s efforts to control his body and mind, he leans on his friends, family, and coaches to help him through all the rough times.
“Swimming consists of a lot of doing things when you really don’t want to and having people there to help you. Whether that’s coaches, friends, or parents, you need people there to motivate and help you when you need it,” said Pomykalski.
Pomykalski has a competitive drive to win, but when it comes to teammates Logan Eaton-Strong and Hunter Kleinshmidt he uses them to push himself to be the very best.
“Obviously they are two great competitors, and being able to race them every day in practice is something that I look forward to, and I think it’s very important to have those types of people. Having people that you can just race and push yourself with has made me the swimmer I am today,” stated Pomykalski.
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