By Chris Cox
Wichita Northwest junior Brock Wallace has been in the pool for most of his life but he remembers clearly the moment that he decided competitive swimming was something he wanted to pursue.
“I went through swim lessons at the YMCA as a kid,” he says. “But what really did it for me was when we went and watched the 2012 Olympic Trials. After that, I just got a spark and said I wanted to give this a try. I just kept going on from there and never really looked back.”
One thing Wallace enjoys about swimming is that there is both the individual and team aspects of swimming.
“It’s very much an individual sport and I have to focus on myself and push my self every day,” he says. “But there is the team aspect with relays and I get to motivate my teammates in practices. I’ve been competitive most of my life so I get to fill out that box while working on myself and helping out my teammates.”
With Wallace catching the swimming bug while watching the Olympic Trials it’s no wonder that some of his swimming idols include Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte but it’s one of his coaches that has become the source of his inspiration.
“One guy that has really inspiredme is my club coach Nate Jensen,” he says. “He also went Northwest for high school and still has a couple of records there. Just being trained as his athlete and hearing stories of what he did in college has inspired me to become better and maybe, one day, succeed him and break his records.”
Along with potentially setting some school records, Wallace is pretty clear with his goals for this year.
“The big goal is winning a state title,” he says. “That’s something I’ve looked at for years. Getting to accomplish that would be huge for my career and would something I’d remember for the rest of my life. The next thing would be to get close to becoming an All-American.”
Out of the pool, Brock is a member of the Early College Academy. Although he is just a junior, Wallace is starting to plan for his life after high school.
“I definitely want to continue swimming in college,” he says. “Recruiting opened in for my class this summer, so I’ve been going through that process.”
