This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Boys State Swimming: Reed Transforms from Minnow to Shark

Downers North sprint standout hopes to cap meteoric rise with a state title--or two.

When Mike Reed gets up on the starting blocks at the boys swimming state meet this weekend at New Trier, it will mark not the beginning of the end but the end of the beginning of a remarkable career.

It’s a scenario the Downers Grove North senior never envisioned just three years ago, when he was barely able to swim 100 yards without running out of gas.

Reed, who didn’t begin swimming competitively until his freshman year and only starting training year-round the following summer, is headed to Wisconsin on a swimming scholarship and will graduate from North as one of the best swimmers in school history. He may even become just the second Trojan to win a state championship.

Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That is a rare feat in a sport where most elite performers start training at age 6 and something Reed never expected.

“Not at all. Freshman year I never would have thought any of this would have ever happened,” Reed said. “I wanted to swim year-round, but I didn’t think I’d be swimming in college. I never thought I’d be good enough to do that and so to get this opportunity has been awesome.”

Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The 6-7 Reed, who is nicknamed “Tree” by his teammates because of his height, improved rapidly. He qualified for state in the 50-yard freestyle as a sophomore and finished 38th.

But his big breakthrough came last winter when he earned two state medals, taking sixth in the 50 free and 11th in the 100 free. The former finish equaled the highest ever by a North swimmer in that event.

How did he get so good so quickly? His height certainly helped, but that wasn’t the only reason.

“Freshman year I had a lot of stroke mechanics that were definitely an easy, quick fix, so that led to a lot of time drops going into sophomore year,” Reed said. “Then, I started lifting weights over the summer and fall and that helped with strength.”

Until recently, Downers North had had little success in the pool. Reed is only the seventh Trojan to win a state medal but the fifth since 2006.

Earlier in his career, Reed watched 2009 graduates Burke Sims and Ryan Downey have success. Downey placed eighth in the 500 free two years ago and now swims for Indiana. Sims is the most decorated Trojan swimmer, having set the state record and having won the state championship in the 500 free before continuing his career at Stanford.

“Seeing how they train and seeing how well it paid off for them just gave me the idea of that’s what I need to do in order to get better and accomplish goals,” Reed said.

Reed has continued his ascent this winter despite battling illness for much of the season. He contracted pneumonia over the Christmas break and missed a week of training and only now is feeling 100 percent. The turning point came during the recent blizzard that closed school for two days.

“I think (those) two days of no swimming (was when) I finally got over being sick, wasn’t coughing any more, wasn’t hacking up a lung, so I was finally able to have some good races,” Reed said. “I had some OK ones during the season, but it was never quite up to where I wanted to be and so to finally see times where I was happy with them was an awesome feeling.”

Reed has kicked it into high gear during the postseason. He set conference records in the 50 and 100 free at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division championships at York, setting a pool record in the 50.

Then, at last week’s Downers North Sectional, Reed broke his own school record and set the pool mark in the 50 free. His time of 21.14 is the second-best time in the state this year.

Reed also won the 100 free in 46.35, which tied Sims’ pool record and is the fastest time in the state. He wants to finish in the top three in both races and knows a state title is within his reach.

“It would just be the culmination of everything coming together,” said Reed, who also holds a share of the school records in all three relay events. “Working from freshman year until now, it would be just unbelievable to see how far I’ve come. To go from barely (being) able to do a 100 free to being able to be a state champion, that would be awesome.”

It would also be instructive for all young swimmers who may think rapid improvement is impossible.

“Most top talents have been in it since they were 6, but I’ve known plenty of swimmers in my time that have been people that just started out in high school, never swam before that, and ended up being D-I,” said first-year Downers North coach Adam Bruesch. “It’s always surprising, but it’s not unheard of and it’s one of those stories that we like to tell to other swimmers that are just starting out.

"It’s that, hey, not everyone starts off as a state champion when they’re 6. Some of them start out at the bottom of the rung when they’re freshmen. It’s one of those inspiring stories.”

Indeed, just as Sims’ state championship inspired Reed, Reed’s success could begat future stars.

“I think it kind of helps show (the younger kids) that anything can happen,” said Reed, who thinks his best swimming is still ahead of him. “I’ve only been swimming since my freshman year and I’ve gotten better in leaps and bounds, and so I think it shows you can get better and have huge time drops. They could do it if they just work hard enough at it.”

Hard work both in the pool and the classroom is something Bruesch preaches. Sims and Reed, who has a 3.8 GPA, excelled in both areas and set an example for their peers.

 “I think (their teammates) learn that it’s not magic why these guys are good,” Bruesch said. “They can see (Reed) wasn’t very good when he first started and now he’s a potential state champion, so why can’t anybody else do that? Not everybody’s going to be (a champion), but it gives them the incentive that, ‘Hey, I’m not good now, but it doesn’t mean I won’t be good three years from now.’ ”

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?