When Daniel Hechenberger (Far Left in Photo) of Wichita Collegiate started swimming for his school during his freshman year, he already had a jump on his opponents having grown up in Florida where he swam nearly every day. Hechenberger enjoys being part of the swim team at Collegiate where hard work meets fun in the pool, but the job still gets done.

“My favorite part about the team is our ability to have fun and work hard simultaneously, because most of the time swimming is not fun, but we find ways to mess around when we’re not in the water, whether it be by giving crazy hype speeches before games or playing water polo after practice,” said Hechenberger.

The freestyle swimmer explains why it’s such a competitive swim in competition.

“Freestyle is the normal stroke that people swim with, so everyone who swims has a requisite knowledge of it from both leisure and in practice. Because of this, everyone inevitably is decent or better at freestyle, which makes it objectively the most competitive stroke,” said Hechenberger.

Once he graduates, Hechenberger has aspirations of attending the United States Naval Academy and serve in the Navy or U.S. Marines. Outside of swimming, Hechenberger plays football and many other activities.

“I am in debate and am one of the leaders of the politics and economics club,” said Hechenberger.