A Big East qualifying time of 55.26 in the 3×100 backstroke, along with a spot on a 200 medley relay that qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), places Wes Going in the spotlight for this week.
“Wes had a great swim for being the first week in October,” Head Coach Steven Cartwright said.
Going, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, began swimming at the age of eight. Wes was originally a baseball enthusiast, but when some of his friends joined a summer swim team, he tagged along.
“I had fun,” Going said. “I had a good fundamental coach, and he kept me interested. Then all my buddies, they eventually all quit, but I kept going with it.”
He threw himself into the sport wholeheartedly, waking up early to squeeze in extra practice with the older teams.
“I was kind of crazy now that I look back at it,” he said.
To this day, Going takes his swimming seriously. He finds those gaps in the season without an imminent race the most difficult, but once a competition comes along, he sets his mind to the task at hand.
“I love looking at the guy next to you and wanting to take him out,” Going said. “The adrenaline is really awesome, and that has kept me going in my career.”
The team camaraderie is the other aspect that Going enjoys.
“We have a great team dynamic. It feels like a band of brothers. You feel like you would do anything for the guys or the girls.”
Everyday, Hoya swimmers walk past whiteboards in the locker room that display their goals, reminding them of everything they’re working toward this year.
“We want to feel like we’ve had no regrets this entire season,” Going said. “That we haven’t quit in any event, any set, any race, we haven’t quit on each other, on the coaches, on the team.”
