Gavin Danze rises for Rowan males’s swimming – The Whit

Rising junior Gavin Danze helps take Rowan males’s swimming to the subsequent degree on each the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) and nationwide stage. 

Danze has been swimming since he was solely three years previous. He began doing it together with his brother when their father, a former swimmer himself, launched the 2 to the game. 

“He put me and my brother in it, and we ended up being good at it, so that’s the sport we stuck with,” Danze stated. 

Danze swam in highschool for the Gloucester County Institute of Technology (GCIT) Cheetahs, and his curiosity in coming to Rowan started when he discovered considered one of his professors at GCIT taught cybersecurity lessons right here. When he met the swim group, he instantly gravitated in direction of their unity as a bunch. 

“When I met the team, it was just a completely different atmosphere from every other team I met,” Danze stated. “Everybody was sort of one team, the whole team’s always together, which is a great environment.”

When Danze arrived for his freshman 12 months on the group, he instantly seen how completely different collegiate practices have been in comparison with membership or highschool practices.

“It’s so much more focused on swimming in college,” Danze stated. “I’m a distance swimmer, so most of my practices are distance, working on a lot of freestyle, and every practice has a purpose. If you’re a club swimmer, you know there’s a lot of yardage and just swimming over and over again for no reason, where Brad [Bowser] has a point for every set.”

Brad Bowser is the top coach of the boys’s swimming group, and when Danze first arrived at Rowan, he knew that he had plenty of potential on the collegiate degree.

“He was coming with talent, but definitely needed to be developed a little bit more for the college level, but that never changed my vision on where he could possibly end up. Which is qualifying for the NCAA’s this year and becoming an All-American,” Bowser stated. 

Danze instantly discovered success as a key contributor throughout his freshman 12 months and has now grown to change into a key member of the group.

“Gavin is an instrumental part of our team,” Bowser stated. “He is one of our 1-2 punches in the distance events, and without him, we don’t receive those points. Having him on the team has been a huge contributing factor in our success over the last two years.”

Danze has been tapping on the door in direction of his first look at nationals since his freshman 12 months, with a second-place end within the 1650 Free and a third-place end his sophomore 12 months on the NJAC. With two years left to interrupt by way of, Bowser believes the trouble he places forth each day will propel him to new heights.

“Gavin’s best traits are that he is determined, hard-working, and has a no-quit attitude,” Bowser stated. “As a person, he is respectful, a great listener, and one who takes advice well. He has really grown up these past two years since we’ve had him on the team. He came in as an 18-year-old boy and is now becoming a delightful young man to coach.” 

Danze’s favourite moments in his collegiate profession have come at their yearly journey to the Franklin & Marshall Invitational, when he swam the mile.

“My freshman year, I lost my cap and goggles for the last 600 of it, same thing the next year,” Danze stated. “Breaking 16 minutes my freshman year was also a great accomplishment.”

Danze’s success will probably be a key to their upcoming meet at Salisbury University this weekend on Saturday, Nov. 1. His targets transcend group success, as he’ll look to assist the group whereas smashing information and leaving his mark on this system when all is alleged and performed. 

“I’d love to beat Salisbury this weekend. Excited for those meets against Salisbury, against TCNJ,” Danze stated. “Individually, I had a rougher year last season than freshman year, so I’d like to break the team record in the 1000 and the mile as well.”

For feedback/questions on this story, DM us on Instagram @thewhitatrowan or e-mail [email protected]