Jack McKenna '25 Recruiting Profile

I've always been fascinated with superheroes. When I was 6 and joined my first swim team, I decided that propelling through water was my official superpower. Falling in love with the sport, summer swimming turned into year round swimming with various small programs. During those elementary and middle school years, I towered over my competition not only in size, always being the tallest, but also in speed. As a result, at the start of my freshman year, I joined the elite Jersey Wahoos National Team. I was quickly humbled realizing that my innate abilities would only take me so far; success would no longer come without maximum effort and hard work. Since swimming for this team, I push my body harder than ever, waking up before the crack of dawn, spending nearly half of my waking hours training. Equally as important as the physical growth is the mental. I analyze numbers, set short and long term goals, and budget my time. I think carefully about constructive feedback from coaches and play it over and over in my mind and then in the water. If I don't make cuts, I stay relentlessly positive, reflecting on what specifically needs to be done in order to do better next time. I owe it to myself as well as my team to achieve my personal best. Not to mention, it feels really good when I do!

I also strive to reach my fullest potential outside of the pool. When it comes to school, learning has never come easily to me. I have always needed to put in more effort than most of my peers. Asking a lot of questions during classes, taking the initiative to give up my lunchtime to get extra help from a teacher, or independently finding supplemental materials to support me in learning challenging topics are just some of the many things I regularly do to achieve the strongest academic performance possible. To date, I achieved Honor Roll every semester and have even been recognized by my teachers for Student of the Month as well as People's Choice Award. When I'm not in school or in the pool, I also persevere while exploring passions such as playing keyboard & violin, doing projects that require building, following the stock market, playing chess, juggling anything you can imagine, and of course staying caught up to date with the latest Marvel movies.

Over the years, I have learned that my real superpower is that I'm an incredibly hard worker! It is this trait that will help me achieve my goals as a strong collegiate student and athlete in the future.