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He’s preparing to swim one of the biggest races of his career.
His friends call him the “GOAT” short for Greatest of All-Time.
Yet, how does Eddy Zawatski prepare for the United States Olympic Swimming Trials?
By watching “Cool Runnings” of course.
“We always watched it before districts and states,” the former Wyoming Valley West standout and current Purdue University sophomore swimmer said.
The Jamaican bobsled team had their Olympic moment. Now, the 19-year-old will be competing for his.
Zawatski’s opportunity will come Friday. He’s in one event: the 50 free — the shortest and fastest race in the pool.
No time to think. Just trust your instincts and cut through the water as fast as humanly possible.
“I’ve been working on my starts and finishes,” he said. “Otherwise, you just go all out, and the first one that touches the wall wins.”
One year ago, Zawatski was coming off one of the most decorated swimming careers in the history of the Wyoming Valley Conference. He was getting ready to make the nearly nine-hour trek to Indiana, where he would begin a new portion of his life at Purdue.
But before college life could fully begin, Zawatski went to San Antonio for the Speedo Junior National Championships. There Zawatski set a personal-best in the 50 free to finish 10th and qualify him for the Trials in Nebraska in July.
“It’s been an emotional journey, but it’s all been positive,” he said.
Zawatski had a strong freshman campaign as a Boilermaker. He swam a 20.3-second 50 free, which was three ticks faster than his time at the Junior Nationals. He was third on the team with a 44.7 in the 100 free.
“His freshman year showed me that Eddy is a fighter,” said Purdue assistant coach J. Agnew, who will coach Zawatski at the Trials. “Combined with his passion and dedication for the sport, I am excited to see what the future holds for him.
“While Eddy was an exceptional high school swimmer, it’s hard to prepare anyone for intensity of the Big Ten collegiate environment. Physically, I think the cumulative effect of training both in the pool, and especially in the weight room, hit him hard. It took a few weeks to get his feet back under him and adapt to the workload. To be honest, I think it was somewhere around Christmas break that I saw Eddy make a huge switch from trying to survive the workouts to really thriving in the workouts.”
Even Zawatski admits it was a change. But all the time spent in the pool didn’t take away from Zawatski’s main goal — academics.
“It starts in the classroom,” he said. “You have to go to class, and you need to get the grades. Because if you don’t have the grades, you don’t swim. Mentally and physically, it was a change. But the positive thing was every day was a new day and a new adventure. Honestly, I’m one of the luckiest kids in the world.”
With the calendar starting to creep up to July 1, the emotions are starting to sink in.
Zawatski watched teammate Steele Johnson qualify for the Olympics in the men’s synchronized 10-meter diving event on June 23.
“That just fired me up,” Zawatski said. “Watching Steele representing Purdue like that. Man, it was great.”
But how do you prepare for the biggest stage in amateur swimming?
How do you mentally prepare to compete against some of the biggest names in the sport like Nathan Adrian and Matt Grevers, two of the best 50-free swimmers in the world?
“This is a swimmer’s dream. To have a chance to qualify for the Olympics,” Zawatski said. “I feel some of the nerves starting to set in. I’m just going to race the best that I can, and see what happens. I know that my family, friends, coaches and teammates will be there to support me no matter what. They show me so much love. Because of that love, I know that they have my back no matter what.”
