Long Beach Poly’s Lucas Jue Garners Historic Success With Quiet Resilience – The562.org

The562’s protection of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 college yr is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.

The562’s protection of aquatic sports activities in Long Beach in 2025-26 is sponsored by Watersafe Swim School.

If you walked into the Long Beach Poly natatorium on any given competitors day, you’ll see a crowded pool deck stuffed with excited excessive schoolers prepared to leap within the water and characterize their groups. As you survey the swimmers, it’s possible you’ll not see a loud, boastful chief on the Jackrabbits’ staff.

However, amongst the group, there can be a senior famous person who has his identify on six of the 11 data that hold on the natatorium’s wall. Lucas Jue, a University of Louisville commit, is without doubt one of the greatest swimmers to have walked by way of 1600 Atlantic – and he leads with a quiet gentleness that serves for example of devoted power.

“Lucas is one of the highest performing athletes I’ve gotten the pleasure to coach, but he’s pretty nonchalant about it,” Head Coach Ish Pluton stated. “He’s one of the nicest, sweetest kids I’ve got to coach. He’s not just a crazy fast swimmer, he’s the whole deal – full package. More than anything, he’s a good representative for what a Poly Jackrabbit is.”

This nonchalantness that Jue carries speaks to his management model. Pluton stated the senior leads purely by instance, and his teammates feed off the reserved vitality he persistently carries onto the deck.

“It’s super cool because the kids just vibe off his confidence and rally behind him knowing that he can do anything,” Pluton stated. “They also follow his calm, cool, collected composure through everything. So as a leader, it’s a lot of lead by example.”

Jue’s silence isn’t a testomony to his consideration to element. In reality, it’s the exact opposite. He research the sport as laborious as he research for exams.

“He’s quiet and reserved, but he’s also crazy analytical,” Pluton stated. “He really is a tactician in secret. It can look like he just kind of shows up and swims fast, but he’s doing a bunch of stuff behind the scenes and you would never know it.”

With his deep information for swimming, Jue usually takes it upon himself to assist his teammates enhance in any method they will. Whether they’re attempting a brand new stroke or engaged on turns, Jue would be the first one within the pool volunteering to show what he can.

Growing up with two older brothers who had been additionally elite swimmers, Jue stated this drive to succeed and be the perfect began with the aggressive nature he gained from racing his brothers.

“They’ve always been there to push me through everything, whether they knew it or not,” Jue stated. “I don’t know what word I could use to describe this, but I was maybe envious or even jealous of them. I wanted to be better, and I had a natural competitive drive when I was younger against my brothers that fueled it.” 

His brothers had been additionally a serious affect in why Jue picked Long Beach Poly for highschool quite than Wilson, the standard dominant aquatic college. Part of the explanation Jue grew to become a Jackrabbit was due to the rivalry between the faculties but additionally due to the tradition he noticed at 1600 Atlantic.

“There were just great role models that set the tone for what the culture is at Poly and what they’re here to do,” Jue stated. “That just kept me on track of trying to keep the culture together, keep the ambition, keep the winning drive.”

In 2023, Long Beach Poly achieved a historic feat after they dethroned their Moore League rivals within the Wilson Bruins for the primary time in 50 years. As a freshman, Jue was an enormous contributor on this milestone, successful two particular person titles within the 200 IM and 100 again. 

After the success Jue noticed in his first yr as a Jackrabbit, he confronted robust competitors the following yr in opposition to the Bruins and Wyatt Mitchell. The senior in Mitchell narrowly beat sophomore Jue, which solely fueled the underclassman to work tougher and get stronger.

“I think those moments for Lucas, both as a freshman and as a sophomore, really helped his growth as a competitive athlete, realizing what he needed to do to get better and faster and figure out who he could be for his team,” Pluton stated. “He’s improved leaps and bounds in his athleticism, and I think that was pivotal for him to grow into the athlete he is today.”

The enchancment Jue has already seen by way of the previous 4 years has allowed him to set his targets on what he desires to perform in his last yr at Long Beach Poly. 

“I’m just trying to get the team together and get us as far as we can,” Jue stated. “Our end goal is to obviously place as high as we can at Moore League, CIF and see how good we can go as a team. I’m just trying to encourage everyone to stay persistent, stay consistent and just keep driving to the end.”

Now, in his senior yr, Jue has his eyes set for extra success. While the senior will proceed reaching for particular person data and recognition, he additionally is aware of his position as a frontrunner goes past what he accomplishes.

“He’s figuring out what impact he wants to leave on this program,” Pluton stated. “When you hear about aquatics and swim, that’s Wilson’s claim to fame, but the paradigm shift is happening where people start talking about Poly, our aquatics athletes and the legacy they’ve made.”

Pluton stated it’s already evident that Jue is leaving a legacy on the Funkhouse. First began by famous person Colin Geer and continued on by Jue, the senior is inspiring the following era of Jackrabbits.

“I’ve noticed my whole team get faster as they try to chase this new standard of excellence set by Colin, first, and then now, being paved by Lucas,” Pluton stated. “They set this cool tone of, ‘Poly swim is about producing high quality athletes.’ We can chase that same level of excellence because of them, what they’ve taught us about what it means to be a high achieving swimmer. That level of intensity and seriousness is contagious and has made my whole team faster, and I’m super thankful for it.”

The Jackrabbits have just a few extra possibilities within the pool to tighten up their swims and staff earlier than Moore League finals happen on the finish of the month.