SCHOFIELD, Wis. — Adam Swedlund said he wants to make some memories in his final tennis season at DC Everest.
What You Need To Know
- Adam Swedlund moved from a smaller school to DC Everest as a sophomore
- Swedlund said he wasn’t a strong swimmer when he first arrived, but worked on building relationships with teammates
- Swedlund helped set the school’s 200 medley relay record, and his relay team took fourth at state
- He's editing together a documentary on the senior swim season
“I just hope to have fun this season. We have a good group of guys. A lot of seniors,” explained Swedlund. “Maybe put a shot at the conference title. If not, just see where we can go into sectionals.”
Jenny Oosterhuis is familiar with Swedlund as a guidance counselor and tennis coach. She said he has a knack for including everyone.
“When I was a new coach, he was one of the first kids to welcome me on this team,” said Oosterhuis. “That shows good social skills and just caring to notice that a coach might even feel a little self-conscious.”
Swedlund was once a newcomer as well. He moved from a smaller school to DC Everest as a sophomore. His friend and swimming teammate, Keaton Barwick, said it didn’t take him long to adjust.
“Everybody immediately started relating with Adam,” said Barwick. “We immediately started making bonds with him, becoming friends with him really quickly. He was immediately a leader on the team.”
Swedlund said he wasn’t a strong swimmer when he first arrived, but worked on building relationships with teammates.
“I kind of just think that being a positive person in the pool, out of the pool, just to be around really uplifts everyone around me. So I try to be that person,” said Swedlund.
Eventually, the swimming improved. Swedlund helped set the school’s 200 medley relay record, and his relay team took fourth at state.
He also filmed his senior swim season for a documentary.
“The team got into it. They would be recording and saying like, 'Adam, you gotta get this in the documentary,'” said Swedlund.
Swedlund is preparing for the daunting task of editing the footage together.
“It’s going to be funny. There are parts from our whole season and all of our meets,” said Barwick.
The project is similar to one of his other hobbies: sports photography. Both passions help capture special moments in time and keep team memories alive.
“I just had a lot of fun taking pictures of sports. It’s something close to me,” said Swedlund. “I could just send them the pictures. They’d come up to me in school and ask for some pictures. I thought it was cool to give them that kind of feeling.”
In the classroom, he said he enjoyed challenging subjects. Swedlund started a physics club as a senior and said he loves engineering.
His AP English teacher Dawn Whitsett said she’ll miss his sense of humor next year, which included dramatic Shakespeare readings with Swedlund and some classmates.
“He’s quick-witted. He’s intelligent, and he uses those things together to make me laugh all the time,” said Whitsett. “He’s also very driven, and he’s focused on learning.”
While Swedlund doesn’t have an exact career path in mind, he’ll attend the Milwaukee School of Engineering next year to study some of his favorite subjects.
“Calculating, math, science, all sorts of fascinating things to learn how things work to how to make things work,” said Swedlund.
Those around him calculate that Swedlund will bring the same positive energy into the next phase of his life.
“He’s a kid with the kind of grades, the transcript and the whole package that he could go just about anywhere he wants. I think he’ll be successful,” said Oosterhuis.
Wherever Swedlund ends up, there’s a decent chance he makes memories for those he meets along the way.
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