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Mostly Cloudy Valley Stream swimmer dominates
Senior Jack Wagner remains undefeated in individual races
Losing is just not in Jack Wagner’s vocabulary.
The 18-year-old Valley Stream resident stormed through the boys’ state swimming and diving championships at Erie Community College in Buffalo last weekend, winning the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard freestyle. Wagner, who was named the meet’s outstanding swimmer, has never lost an individual race in his three-year swimming career.
The eight-time high school All-American, who is in his senior year at Holy Trinity, is the state record holder in the 200 IM and 100 free, and nearly eclipsed his marks in both events at the championships. He missed his 100 free record by less than three-tenths of a second and his 200 IM record by seven-tenths of a second.
Wagner will swim for the University of Southern California next year, and has big plans for 2012. “I definitely plan to compete in the Olympic trials,” he said.
The Holy Trinity star comes from a family of swimmers, and Wagner explained that the success of his two older sisters drove him to be the best. “I saw my sisters compete at the states,” he said. “They were what I aspired to be. I wanted to be greater.”
A humble yet confident champion, Wagner said that all of the records he has broken during his high school career are still hard for him to believe. “Talent is a huge part of it, and I’m lucky to have that,” he said. “It’s weird to think I’m the fastest ever in those events. It just doesn’t hit me.”
His mother, Patricia, used to coach a Catholic Youth Organization swim team, and Jack recalls attending her practices and trying to join in, even though he was only 5. “Even if he couldn’t touch the floor, he would stay and tread water,” Patricia said. “He wanted to do what his older sisters did.”
For Jack, swimming came naturally, his mother said, and even she didn’t realize how good he was until one of his coaches from the Long Island Aquatic Club called her about Jack. “Jack was a very aggressive swimmer, and he did it without realizing it,” Patricia said. “But as he got older, the milestones got greater. The first time I realized it was when his club coach called me and said Jack had real potential.”
