New to highschool swimming, Kai Joyner is already a record-setter with Olympic desires – Post Bulletin

ROCHESTER — In simply lower than a month with the Mayo High School boys swimming and diving staff, Kai Joyner has damaged seven pool and three staff information.

Until this season, the sophomore had been a swimmer with Rochester Swim Club completely, however lately determined to provide the highschool staff a attempt.

He’s no stranger to success within the pool, with a protracted listing of membership accomplishments.

“I’ve had a couple appearances at (Speedo Junior National Championships),” Joyner stated. “I’ve made finals, made top eight, gotten some medals at junior nationals. … I’ve broken some club swimming state records all the way from 11-12, 13-14 and 15-16 age group(s). So yeah, those would be the ones that stand out to me.”

Club swimming has allowed Joyner to attach with swimmers his personal age on the town, together with his longtime mates, Century’s Eli Holmes and Grady Bargfrede, however he felt becoming a member of the highschool swim staff at Mayo might provide him one thing particular.

“Just to be able to continue the legacy of good student-athletes at Mayo, just be able to represent my school,” Joyner stated, “be capable to have a peer group exterior of simply folks in my courses that I can truly join with in school. I feel that is an enormous motive.”

He joined the staff a couple of weeks late, as he was ready to compete on the Winter Junior Championships by way of USA Swimming, which ran Dec. 10-13 in Austin, Texas. He completed sixth place within the 1,000-yard freestyle, eighth within the 1-mile freestyle, ninth within the 500-yard freestyle and thirteenth within the 200-yard freestyle.

High faculty swimming has been Joyner’s first expertise with twin meets, which means he’s swimming in opposition to a few of his membership teammates as a substitute of with them.

“I think the dual meet experience has been really, really fun,” Joyner stated. “Being able to swim against some of my best friends, rather than on the same team as them, it really brought out that competitive spirit in me. High school swimming, … you’re doing it for something bigger than yourself. Whereas in club swimming, yeah, there’s meets where there’s team scores and stuff, but I think being able to represent your school is really, really cool. It’s a good opportunity.”

Joyner began swimming at 5 years previous, launched to the game by his mother and father. His mother, a Green Bay, Wis. native and his dad, from Tucson, Ariz., met swimming laps on the Rochester Athletic Club pool after transferring to city for work. His youthful brother Ryk can also be a swimmer with the Rochester membership, in eighth grade.

“It’s kind of fitting,” Joyner stated of his mother and father, who’re former faculty athletes. His mother performed basketball on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and his dad ran on the University of Arizona.

He performed basketball, flag soccer and a little bit of soccer rising up, however the pool was at all times the place he felt most snug.

“There was something about swimming that I really just loved,” Joyner stated.

Joyner plans to swim with the Spartans subsequent season as a junior, however is uncertain if he’ll swim on the highschool staff to prioritize attaining his largest objectives but: swimming within the Olympic Trials for Team USA in 2028.

“Ever since I watched Michael Phelps (in) his last 2016 Rio Olympics, I’ve always wanted a cap of the American flag on it and my name on it,” Joyner stated. “So I think to be able to represent the US at an international meet would be super cool … like the Olympics or the World Championships.”

His plan for conducting stated purpose?

“I went to the USA Swimming National Select Camp in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center in October, and one of the things they always told me was ‘ABT’ – Always Be Tinkering,” Joyner stated. “And so always be looking for ways to improve. When you become good at a sport, it’s easy to get really ahead of yourself and be like, ‘Oh, I’m the king of the world, no one can tell me anything that I need to do better, because I’m the best.’

“But I think for me, I try to focus on just constantly getting new advice, trying new things and also … not making swimming my entire being. I think having an outside life in anything, whether it’s work, school, sports, I think that’s also going to be super important. Just so I don’t get caught up in everything.”

Mayo coach Scott Diercks has coached Joyner for a short while, however has seen what an ideal staff participant he’s.

“He trains at a different level than everybody else. We have to change his intervals for him because he’s so much faster than many of his teammates,” Diercks stated. “He’s always willing to swim whatever events score the most points for the team, and he works with the younger kids quite a bit, too. … Every week we have some one-on-one time, and he’ll work with the junior varsity guys. He does a great job with that.”

Diercks has expertise teaching one other swimmer with Olympic desires in Lourdes’ grad

Jenny Shaughnessy,

who competed within the preliminaries for the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in 2008.

Joyner additionally hopes to swim for a excessive Division I program in faculty. Recruiting guidelines state faculty coaches can not attain out to him till June 15, however his high selections in the meanwhile are the University of Indiana, UC Berkeley and the University of Texas at Austin.

Joyner stated he wouldn’t be the place he’s now with out the help of his household, teammates and coaches.

“I’ve been really blessed to have good coaches all the way from being that little five-year-old when I started out swimming all the way up until now,” Joyner stated. “And so, yeah, I definitely owe it to my family and coaches.”

Joyner hopes to compete in his first highschool state meet subsequent month. Having set pool information within the 100 free (Mankato West, Northfield), 200 free (Northfield), 200 particular person medley (Mankato West), 500 freestyle (Century) and 100 backstroke (Mankato West, Northfield), in addition to staff information within the 200 free (1:38.95), 100 free (46.23) and 500 free (4:27.90), Joyner is nicely on his means.

“I went last year (to watch),” Joyner stated of the state meet. “I was blown away by the noise. It was so loud in there, louder than any club meet or junior nationals meet I’ve been to, and I think that come end of February, it’s going to be that loud again, and I think that’s the atmosphere that I can really thrive in. And so I’m just super excited for it.”